November, 2006:

Schoolies, Toolies, Foolies and now Droolies. Maybe they should get the complete set by inviting children’s entertainers, the Hooley Dooleys.

Leavers Week or ‘Schoolies’ is over for another year. After 12 years of schooling it’s a time for school leavers to break free from the shackles of study and cut loose with their friends.

Here in Australia it’s a week full of 17 year olds taking part in drunken, debauched behaviour. Each day in the newspaper we see reports of more damage to participants and property as the leaders of tomorrow cause us oldies to start worrying about the future. “It wasn’t like that in my day”.

But is that really the whole story? Are our young people really that far out of control?

One of my brothers, Erik, works for Youth for Christ. He has been part of Leavers Week activities for several years and this year he spent time in Dunsborough working alongside police and other youth organisations helping to foster a safer environment for the teenagers taking part in the week of celebrations.

I invited Erik to join me during my radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning to get a clearer picture of what really happens at places like Rottnest and Dunsborough when school ends for thousands of Western Australian young people.

You can listen to our conversation while you continue to browse the internet by clicking here.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Technorati Tags: Schoolies – Toolies – Dunsborough – Rottnest – Leavers Week

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Do you believe in angels?

Do we each have a guardian angel watching over us? Are angels simply winged creatures who float around in the clouds playing harps?

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I spoke to some very brave people on my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning.

I was joined once again by psychologist Genevieve Milnes M.App.Psych, MA (Couns), B.Ed, B.Div from the Belmont Counselling Clinic and we continued our discussion on domestic violence.

We opened the phones a couple of times during the segment and a number of people who had experience of abuse in their homes rang to share their stories. That’s such a gutsy thing to do. It must be incredibly difficult to break free from an abusive relationship. The fear of what’s happening can be overshadowed by the fear of what might happen if you leave.

If you’d like to listen to our discussion, while you continue to browse the internet, you can hear this morning’s segment by clicking here.

I can understand if you’d prefer not to, but please feel free to share your own story in the comments section of this post if you’ve been able to break away from a destructive relationship. What made you stay? What was it that helped you make up your mind to eventually leave? What kind of regrets and fears did you face after leaving?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Technorati Tags: Domestic Violence – Abuse – Radio – Sonshine FM

Would you give up your baby?

What would you need to be offered to hand over one of your children to strangers? How about a computer game?

Tim Challies drew my attention to this very unsettling article about a prank played on radio listeners in the US. The morning show host of a local radio station asked listeners if they’d be willing to give up their babies for 24 hours to get their hands on a Playstation 3. They were surprised to find that quite a number of people were more than happy to pass their flesh and blood over to complete strangers to get the latest game console.

More than a dozen callers got through to offer their children before the radio station revealed that it was a gag. They considered their practical joke to be a social experiment. They say that there were many more calls that couldn’t get through.

KDWB morning show executive producer Steve “Steve-o” LaTart said he was surprised how many people were interested in the bogus swap, which consisted of handing over your child to LaTart for 24 hours in exchange for a PS3.

“There were a lot of phone calls that we didn’t even get to and I would say three quarters of them were serious,” said LaTart.

People with babies of all ages — including a 2-day-old and a 1-week-old — made it on air. One of the more serious sounding calls came from a woman named “Katie,” who agreed to give up her 1-month-old for three days. She wanted to sell the PS3 on eBay to make some extra money for the holidays.

You can hear some audio of the programme by clicking here. Included in the audio is a very irate man telling the radio presenters how disgusting the idea was.

Is this the ultimate expression of the materialistic society we’re building?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Technorati Tags: Radio – PS3 – Materialism