Oakville news, education, politics, community events, environment, fundraising and social events.
We would like to wish all our readers a very happy new year. Good things come to those who wait….so we are hoping that 2012 brings great things to those who have helped support Oakville Chit Chat along the way.
What are you planning to do this evening and in 2012 to make a difference?
Let us know what is on your horizon.
For all Oakville Chit Chat readers, we wanted to share this funny greeting that was sent to us.
We wish you all the best during the holiday season. Looking forward to 2012!!!
A lawyer’s sanitized Politically correct season greeting
Dear Friend / Family member,
I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to you, but it is difficult in today’s world to know exactly what to say without offending someone.
So I met with my co-counsel yesterday and on his/her advice I wish to say the following:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday practised with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious / secular persuasions and / or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012, but not without due respect for the calendar of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her / him or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. The wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Best Regards (without prejudice)
Name withheld (Privacy Act)
Due to its overwhelming success, Oakville Trafalgar High School, in partnership with your School Council is continuing the Parent Connections program.
Their goal is to bring parents, caregivers, community members and staff together to discuss issues that evolve as young people develop through adolescence and to build a network of parents to support one another in the pursuit of raising healthy, responsible and resilient teens.
They will be meeting the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. in the Oakville Trafalgar High School theatre; meetings will run approximately one hour. Please notify Kim Redmond, VP, of you intention to attend so she can accommodate required seating.
Following is the list of dates and topics that have thus been selected by parents for the 2011/2012 school year.
Tuesday, December 6th
Bullying and Relationship Building
The Honourable Justice Marvin Zuker Ontario Court of Justice
Kim Redmond Vice Principal, OTHS
* NOTE: Constable Mark Vegso has accepted Kim’s offer to join us
for Q & A
Tuesday, January 10th
Talking About Mental Illness
Presented by a Panel of Speakers/Experts in the Field of Mental Health/Illness in Adolescents
Tuesday, February 7th
Internet Awareness
Presented by KIWI Seminars/KIWI Commons (https://filter.kiwicommons.com/).
If you would like to be added to the Parent Connections e-mail distribution list, please email Kim Redmond, Vice Principal, at redmondk@hdsb.ca.
*Stay tuned for our March, April & May sessions*
Happy Halloween!
Halloween is a time when kids get to be kids…use their imagination….live in the fantasy and dress up.
How often as parents do you remember your little boy dressing up as batman or your little girl as a princesses. Would they run around the house with a cape or sit a the table pretending to sip tea?
As they grow, their opportunities to pretend, dress up and escape into the world of wonder become less and less frequent – if at all.
Halloween allows our children to pretend again, to run around without a care and yes, to collect the sugary sweets they devour for weeks.
So don’t ban it. Don’t make them dress in orange and black.
As Canadians we celebrate many holidays. We have come to enjoy these as well as the new celebration we have been introduced to because of our new Canadian families.
We at Oakville Chit Chat, hope that those new to Halloween enjoy it as much as our children and that they can introduce us to other world celebrations as well.
From our family to yours, have a safe and enjoyable Halloween.
Do you know that cell phone numbers go public this month?
All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.
YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS!!
To prevent this, go to the following web-site for Canadian Telephone Numbers:
www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca and then click on English & then on “check my registration.”
It is the National DO NOT CALL list It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON. It takes about 20 seconds.
Reports are now coming in regarding what many parents have known for a long time – that the stress caused by high expectations are causing an emotional and health toll on teens.
Expectations put on youth not only by parents, school but even themselves are having in some cases serious consequences.
Clinical depression, anxiety disorders and even suicide are making many reconsider the heavy burden placed on youth in today’s competitive life.
Some high schools are taking a very innovative approach by offering workshops on everything from meditation, laughter therapy, music, etc.
The numbers are frightening on the growing concern that students need additional years to complete high school. With the elimination of Grade 13, parents as well as youth are now stating they need more time to complete high school before moving on.
With the high cost of tuition, parents are also concerned that teens not ready for the transition may waste their first year at College or University because they are either emotionally or academically unprepared.
Stresses also exist outside of school as outside activities become competitive by nature.
Have you ever noticed that every activity your child participates in seems to have or push a ‘competitive’ stream?
How are you handling these types of stresses trying to protect your teen from falling victim?
Now that the summer is approaching and your teen will have more leisure time, you may be asking yourself whether you should let your teen drink at home.
Some parents do state that they feel a controlled environment to introduce their teen to alcohol is a way of ensuring their teen knows the difference between responsible drinking and binge drinking. They believe that with parent supervision, this is the best method of introducing their teen to an activity that is inevitable.
Underage drinking is a contentious issue for many parents especially when some parents even have parties allowing other teens to do the same.
There are a lot of issues allowing other teens to be drinking including liability, legality, etc. so many would say that providing an environment where other underage kids drink is not advisable.
So what about your own child?
In a 2010 publication from the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism the state the following:
“according to most studies, the benefits of allowing children to drink in the home do not appear to be the case”.
This same report goes on to quote other information that indicates starting drinking earlier increases the chances of developing alcohol problems.
Some argue that having alcohol as part of a teen’s life exposes them to riskier behaviour, provides the perception that it is needed to have fun, impairs their judgment, etc.
Although some teens do drink, what should you do as a parent? Do you keep them away from situations you know will have alcohol, do you talk to them honestly about their alcohol consumption, do you allow it in your home?
Let us know what you think.
How safe are your children while they are participating at an activity? Does the owner of the club or studio care or have safety as a priority? Is winning, profits or their priorities more important?
If an owner has been notified of incidents occurring that jeopardize safety are they liable if future incidents occur?
Lets use a recent event attended by a dance parent in a nearby town known for a rather troubled and dangerous downtown core (its not Oakville). Is it reasonable for dance competitions to be held in an area known to have drug dealing, criminals or other types of wandering public?
Let us ask you…..if you were a parent walking to your car with a child (under 12) and witnessed a brutal physical attack in front of you whereby you and the child had to run to your car, lock yourself in, phone 911 for police help ….and then told the establishment of the event the next day asking that future competitions not be held at this arena because the local police confirmed how unsafe the area was…..what response would you expect from the owner of this establishment?
We would expect the event never to be held in this area again so that the children and their families would be safe. Is this a reasonable request?
What would you say if many parents talk openly about the type of people around this event because the issue is so visible?
How can parents protect their children and themselves even if owners do not do what seems reasonable and safe?
Let us know what you think?
Do you fear that your home and its contents will not be safe when your adult child is left alone?
Parents wants to believe that their children are responsible and capable of managing themselves and the household. Sometimes, the issue may occur because of a decision but sometimes accidents cause the crisis. [Read more...]
OakvilleChitChat.com is online resource site serving Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Burlington and surrounding areas. We provide information on what is in our community and what is happening in our community. We will keep you and your family informed and connected. [Read More …]
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