Pink Shirt Day: Stop Bullying Now

Well, I'm not wearing what you'd call a pink shirt today - it's more like a reddy-brown - but be that as it may, today is apparently celebrated as Pink Shirt Day, and that relates to Bullying.

I quote:

Pink Shirt Day aims to show that bullying is not ok and won't be tolerated. By encouraging the people of New Zealand to wear a Pink Shirt on the 28th of April we can help to raise awareness of bullying and show the massive amount of people who support taking a stance against bullying and believe that bullying should not be tolerated anywhere no matter what the reasons or circumstances are.

I say Amen to that. You can read a good deal more about bullying and what's being done about it on the Pink Shirt site, and also catch up with the recent Massey University study on bullying here. The latter deals primarily with workplace bullying; the Pink Shirt site is more focused on bullying in schools.

Religious Diversity in New Zealand

The first edition of the Statement on Religious Diversity in New Zealand in 2007 was the result of an extensive consultation and the contribution of people of diverse religious backgrounds. It sparked debate, and sometimes controversy, in the respective religious traditions.

Two years later, in the light of the value of the work done since then, the Roman Catholic Church has endorsed the revised edition.

In the new Statement, the eight key principles of 2007 are retained; the commentary on each of these reflects the changes and experience of the past two years. The revised text reflects submissions from the public and from organizations, especially faith groups and churches.

Principle 8 on Cooperation and Understanding reads: Government and faith communities have a responsibility to build and maintain positive relationships with each other, and to promote mutual respect and understanding. The Statement recognizes the right for Christian schools to provide “a programme of religious instruction as part of an individuals’ formation within a particular faith,” but also affirms that “education in schools about religious diversity is essential if we are to understand New Zealanders, our Asia-Pacific region and the wider world in which we live.”

This latest version of the Statement is unlikely to be the last; as John A Dew, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington notes: We have heard today of the need for dialogue / debate / discussion on religion in the work place - this will be ongoing and this statement should be a framework for national debate.

More information about the Statement, its revisions and other related matters are on the related Human Rights Commission website.

Safer Children in a Digital World

The report of the Byron review on Children and the Internet came out just last month. This is a UK report initiated by the British government, and is extensive in its findings (it runs to 226 pages in the FTP version) on the risks to children of potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games. You can download it off the Net (along with several related documents) at the Department for Children, Schools and Families. (Is it just me, or does that department's title seem to have the names out of order of importance - I'd be putting Families second or even first!)

Dr Byron' press release includes a summary of the groundbreaking recommendations in her report. She concludes that while new technologies bring incredible opportunities to children and young people, parents' general lack of confidence and awareness is leaving children vulnerable to risks within their digital worlds. Many parents seem to believe that when their child is online it is similar to watching television. Dr Byron is keen to emphasise that in fact it is more like opening the front door and letting a child go outside to play, unsupervised. Digital world risks are similar to real world risks but can be enhanced by the anonymity and ubiquity that the online space brings.

Being a Do-Gooder

More than one person in the world has begun to do small acts of kindness (sometimes 'random acts of kindness') with effects far beyond what they expected.

Debbie Tenzer is a marketing professional who felt helpless to change the state of the world with regard to war, crime and the schools in Los Angeles. So, she started with small gestures of kindness on Mondays, her own most difficult day. Then friends soon suggested she post these activities on a website, and DoOneNiceThing.com was born.

"OK, I can't fix needy schools, but I could give them my children's old schoolbooks," Debbie says. "I can't end the war, but I can send a phone card so a soldier can call home and feel comforted. I decided then I'd find a way to do one nice thing for someone every week."

Now she communicates with "nice-oholics" in 53 countries — people inspired by the Web site. Amongst other things they pour tons of school supplies into Afghanistan, meet the needs of students fleeing hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, and send sweaters to help people endure the bitter winter winds in Iraq.

Sharing these stories gives other people hope, Tenzer says. "The world is an imperfect place, and there's a lot to do and we can do."

Too often people in our congregation find it hard to know where to start. Either of these sites might give someone the impetus to get out and 'be kind.'