The Power of Education in Establishing Regions around the Globe.

According to the World Health Report, the top 10% of wealthy individuals control 86% of the entire global wealth while the ‘poorer’ half of the globe only owns 1% of the world’s wealth. 50% of the 2.2 billion children around the world live in poverty - therefore every other child lives in dire circumstances. 

While many children in established regions enjoy the luxury of learning in a multi modal environment, children in these establishing regions have limited to no access to such educational environments. 

The International Labour Organisation estimates that some 215 million children globally between the ages of 5 and 17 years have to work, so there is often no time left to attend school. 

The lack of schooling leads to a poor education and has negative effects on the population as a whole as well as the individual child. Children leave their youth without having acquired a basic knowledge level, which greatly impedes the social and economic developments of these establishing countries. 

Having personally worked with children in these regions, it has been clear that if we enable children to discover the world of education we will be able to help each individual child achieve their personal dreams in today’s emerging 21st Century Digital Economy. 

Providing opportunity for a new generation to beat the poverty trap should be a key goal. However, in today’s technology based world, the traditional teaching methods in these regions represent an outdated way to address the global wealth issue. These traditional teachings include farming, mining, stitching and cleaning. 

Over the past few years, various organisations and philanthropists have attempted to help solve this global crisis in the form of providing educational technology to these regions however, only a small percentage of the underprivileged population has been able to utilise this material to create a better future. 

Although many have argued that the cause of poverty is the shortage of expertise, it is merely an excuse for lack of opportunity. 

Take Sir Li Ka- shing for example, are there any hands here that know who he is? 

When Li was young, he and his family fled from China to Hong Kong in order to avoid the civil war. At a mere fifteen years of age, his father died of tuberculosis. In order to support his family, Li had to leave his education behind and work at a plastic plant. Unlike many, Li (who was still a minor) was given the unique opportunity by the plant owner to discover exactly how to operate the plant. In 1950, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company, a few years later he grew to be the largest supplier of plastic and to date is the wealthiest person in Asia with a net worth of $31.9 billion. The plant owner who was gifted with education gave back and allowed Li to create a better future for himself and his family. 

Now, although Li was given a unique opportunity to learn, there are many, many other youths across the globe who have not gifted with such an opportunity and are forced to work in hostile, high- risk and hazardous environments. 

If us, somewhat educated individuals replicated the plant owners mentality in the future we could together empower less educated children to believe in themselves, their unique individual abilities and personal talents. It only takes something as simple as giving someone who is less fortunate the opportunity to learn a new skill to help solve poverty as a whole. Alternatively, if you’re feeling a tad generous you can take the ‘mainstream’ approach of donating in the form of a cash sponsorship or through your old books to your local charity. 

Given that education is a key leverage point to tackle the negative impacts of poverty and that these children want to attend school, a renewed, 21st century style commitment to public education is essential. 

Now, I’d like to leave you with one quote today, true intelligence is not about knowledge, but imagination. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - NEXT MOVIE PLAN

Love is a feeling we can all resonate with - a warm, happy and delightful feeling that is invisible, undetectable and unnoticeable with anything but our hearts.  (CHANGE) 

Many adolescents and woman are drawn towards romantic comedy movies. Movies that make them feel good whilst portraying a beautiful resolution to a deep, stereotypical problem. Examples of such movies include Friends with Benefits, Valentines Day and Crazy, Stupid, Love. All of which are based upon a traditional love story concept mixed with obstacles stopping the love from flourishing. (CHANGE)

I strongly believe that the best way to widen up the audience of the Perks of Being a Wallflower would be to transition the genre of the trailer from being drama mixed with elements of adult themes and romance to purely a romantic movie with comedic and educational elements, a romantic genre focused around the idea of Charlie transitioning from an endearing and naive outsider to society to now finding a fantastic group of friends, in particular his best friend, who eventually becomes his girlfriend - Sam, who accepts him and teaches him about the wonders of the ‘real world’ and how to live a life of a ‘normal’ teenager - a fun life of drinking, drugs and in his case, women. (CHANGE)

While the current trailer proved to be highly successful and combined a variety of important adolescent themes such as depression, sexual orientation and stereotypes that are being widely discussed in the media with regards to the age group of fifteen to nineteen, by slightly shifting the genre and themes of the proposed new trailer we could allow the film to be exposed to a much wider audience - not just this teenage age group but parents of teenagers and woman wanting a traditional love story with a twist. (CHANGE)

Instead of just showing parts of a film about a teenager with a variety of issues then a happy ending, the new trailer would provide a whole new, wider perspective to this successful storyline. The underlying theme and focal point of the trailer would be the romantic story between Charlie and Sam and how there relationship flourished as Charlie’s issues were exposed then addressed. (CHANGE)

A recent study conducted by IMDB on the popularity of move genres showed that on average, romantic movies, smashed drama movies in three key metrics - revenue, popularity and reviews. The proposed new trailer would contain a careful mix of the following three elements to ensure parents of teenagers and middle- aged woman would also be potential viewers: the game of love, adolescent issues and adult comedy. (CHANGE)

As mentioned earlier, love is something we can all connect with - regardless of age, demographic, knowledge base or even gender for some. Its something that appeals to everyone. The current trailer however is fixated upon portraying Charlie’s issues - while this is an important element to the overall storyline in the movie, it restricts the potential reach and audience of the film. The romantic story between Charlie and Sam coupled with Charlie’s issues as a secondary theme ensures the film will appeal to an expanded audience. 

The first step to effectively transitioning the genre of the trailer is by establishing a new perspective. It is also important that we address the current scenes with regards to what can stay and what must be replaced.

The way in which I propose we do this is similar to the way in which the 2011, romantic comedy smash hit Friends with Benefits started off their trailer. Bright coloured titles were displayed shown before each scene in the trailer to act as a reference to the audience and keep the mood light when key, deep moments were shown. (CHANGE)

Take this scene for example - have a look at these two pictures. On the scale of 1-10 how serious does these two arguments look? (Question) Pretty serious doesn't it! 

When the argument takes place between the two main characters and there former partners, thanks to the upbeat, fun music and fast paced camera angles the audience perceives this scene in a  comedic and funny fashion. (CHANGE) In the feature film however, this is quite the opposite and this argument scene, instead of being combined with upbeat music, is combined with aggressive sounds to emphasise the deep and serious nature of the argument. (CHANGE)

In the proposed new trailer for Perks of Being a Wallflower, we’d model the Friends with Benefits trailer. The opening frame of the new trailer starts with a bright, visual title stating: “The Beginning”. This tagline, coupled with a passionate and joyful tune aims to establish the romantic and affectionate relationship forming between Charlie and Sam. (CHANGE) The visual component shows Sam dancing and Charlie ‘dancing’ outside of his comfort zone to join her on the dance floor. This particular scene ignites the first spark of curiosity within the audience as to how this romantic story will play out. Furthermore, the audience is now in a much better to identify who the the main character and for some teenagers, connect with, and model Charlie’s actions. (CHANGE) The music stops and the picture goes black for a few seconds. (CHANGE)

Suddenly, a second bright, visual title appears on the screen which states: “The Complications”. (CHANGE) The upbeat, light and passionate music restarts immediately when the camera is fully focused and an extended stop motion style clip begins with rapid cross- cutting footage as Charlie’s disturbing past (CHANGE) and present adolescent problems meld with the resolutions and solutions. The somber coloured background of each scene, combined with upbeat music acts as a vehicle to emphasise the message that Charlie is excluded from society and has also been struck with various issues throughout his childhood thus educating the newly widened audience on teenage issues, however, through the use of upbeat sounds once again, and cross- cutting scenes, the mood of the trailer remains very light and engaging. (CHANGE) 

It is clear that there is no more effective way of demonstrating and educating the audience on Charlie’s problems while keeping the mood positive than by playing upbeat and passionate music, as can be heard in the clip. (CHANGE)

Fast forward a couple of scenes, the final visual title would be “The Happy Ending”. This particular scene would be compromised a very soft, thought provoking background tune and Sam asking Charlie: “Why do I, and everyone I love pick people who treat us like we are nothing?“ Charlie responds with “We accept the love we think we deserve”. (CHANGE) This short final scene then cuts directly to Charlie and Sam kissing to a passionate song that gets louder until the picture fades out black. 

The proposed twist in the perception showed in the trailer will surely engage not only the existing target audience: teenagers, who will be far more engaged with the new lighter, comedic elements of the trailer but also parents of teenagers and middle- aged woman wanting a traditional romantic movie which this new trailer now portrays. 

Business Management: Rebuilding LEGO, one brick at a time.

LEGO was founded in 1932 in a workshop by a creative carpenter from Billiard, Denmark with the name of Ole Kirk Chritstansen. The concept: a self locking brick toy for children was an instant success and 82 years on, although facing very dark times has just finished one of their most financially successful years. Every year, Lego produces 19 billion bricks - equivalent to around 36,000 bricks per minute. To give you a bit of perspective of the popularity of Lego - there are around 62 Lego bricks for every of the world’s 6 billion inhabitants. The self locking brick by Lego is single handedly, the most popular and successful toy product for children in history. Whilst on the surface, with such popularity it would be difficult to imagine that the company was stressed financially, between 1993 and 2003 however things couldn't have gone worse (Lutz, 2015). 

Between the years 1993 and 2003, the executive committee at Lego completely lost control. The committee had a very weak go- to- market strategy and limited experience in operating an established company. The company ‘retired’ a large number of established designers who had conceptualised and developed the original sets of Lego and replaced them with a new breed of young designers, who were top university graduates with a supposed ‘signature design flare’ (Lutz, 2015). The newly appointed, young designers were given a vast budget for research, development and innovation and while in many industries, giving employees the opportunity to create and innovate would be considered positive, in the case of Lego however, too much money was being thrown on ideas and concepts in very diverse markets picked, with very little direction by employees. Some of these products, were big, others were small. Most of which were not based upon the original uber- successful, self locking brick concept. Beginning in 1999, Lego released electronic toys, television programs, action figures, jewellery, clothing and spent an insane amount of money and time developing computer programs for a very niche market. Most of these new, ’experimental’ products downright failed and because of the volatility in demand and no budget constraints for innovation within its employees, Lego almost became bankrupt (Roberts Innovation). 

Sales were plummeting and Lego continued to fund the young designers product ambitions, despite the large budget for driving innovation within the company, most of the innovations had complete and utterly failed and most of its other toy lines were generating very heavy losses. The company spent lots of money attempting to tap into all sorts of markets with no real sense of direction thus not able to pinpoint what customers really wanted and make significant sales to keep the company profitable (Lutz, 2015). 

Lego came very close to hitting bankruptcy due to a key issue within its corporate identity and company culture towards the ideas of profit and money making. Two essential components to creating a lasting and profitable venture. Since its founding in 1932, Lego had always been profitable and over the course of 66 years until 1998, complacency within its employees started to set in and the terms profit and money were considered ‘dirty’ words. Rather than being open to setting sales targets for each of its products to ensure profitability, employees refused to cooperate and were primarily focused on developing many unique products rather than a handful of products that would generate a significant profit for Lego (Delingpole, 2009).

By 2003, Lego was operating on very little cash. The company had lost US$300 million, and was projected for a total loss of up to US$400 million in the following year.  In order to generate operating cash, Lego sold a 70% stake in its Legoland Theme Parks for US$460 million (Wharton, 2012) and moved most of its self locking brick production factories to cheaper facilities in regions of Mexico and Czech Republic. Poor management was a significant, central reason for the downfall of Lego and it was clear that the inexperienced executive team, was not able to recognise there strengths and or weaknesses thus not being able to seek help and get guidance when they were unsure or uneducated (Daniels, 2016). Lego removed its existing Chief Executive Officer and appointed a new Chief Executive, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp and in collaboration with his new executive team, designed a modern, organised and structured innovation plan that allowed groups of employees to remain developing new products as long as it was consistent with the goals and missions of Lego and could be developed within a reasonable time and appropriate budget. Furthermore, the distribution of responsibilities for innovation in all areas across the sections ensured the turnaround of the business (Robertson, 2009).

Lego’s new innovation plan designed by the new executive team was split into four sections (Robertson, 2009): 

• Functional Groups - responsible for core business processes including sales, manufacturing and supply chain
• Concept Lab - responsible for developing new products and play experiences 
• Product and Marketing Development - responsible for developing the next generation of existing products 
• Community, Education and Direct - responsible for providing support to customers and Lego communities 

By introducing a more experienced and educated executive team and implementing a carefully structured innovation plan that set a clear structure for all employees to follow, Lego was effective in establishing a solid foundation for financial success. While these two strategies were indeed successful, Lego could have accelerated the resolution of poor  management by merely releasing and selling existing products that were successful whilst adjusting the team environment and appointing a new team simultaneously. Simple products such as Lego houses and cars that did not require a complete revamp but rather a rebrand. 

Lack of planning within Lego was also a big issue that most employees during the dark periods of Lego could resonate with very well. According to the theory on why business’ fail, in most major companies, careful, methodical and strategic planning are used to ensure that a business can run smoothly at all times. The theory also states that care must be taken to regularly study, organise, plan and control all activities of its operations - in particular the continuing study of market research and customer data, an area which is prone to disregard once a business has been operational for a considerable amount of time (Daniels, 2016). Lego struggled to keep customer interest and was focused upon building products that they thought customers wanted rather than actually researching and speaking with customers to find out what was wanted and needed - therefore, not addressing the guidelines of the theory to creating a sustainable and profitable company. Thankfully, under the new executive team, Lego set up its “Future Lab” a lab run by scientific researchers to find out how kids play and parents interact with the aim of identifying what customers really wanted (Lutz, 2015). The researchers at the lab discovered that there was a significant difference between the behaviours of American and European parents. Future Lab Leader, Anne Flemmert- Jensen noted that “American parents don’t like play experiences where they have to step in and help their kids a lot. They want their kids to be able to play by themselves,” while parents in Europe on the other hand are more hands on and are more likely to sit down and spend time on the floor interacting and building with their kids. Furthermore, the researchers concluded that only 30 Lego products were producing a whopping 70% of the companies toy revenue (Ringen, 2015). 

Using this information, Lego was able to produce toys based upon consumer needs and feedback - for America, the kits were designed and developed for self- exploration and discovery while for Europe, the kits were built to ensure more interaction and collaboration with others. The company was also in a much better position for deciding what type and theme of products customers wanted (Marrero, 2016). Lego addressed the strategic planning theory issue outlined above by introducing the the cost efficient research lab, a key introduction that contributed to making Lego the world’s most powerful toy company once again.

While setting up a research lab proved to be very effective and a pivotal strategy that led to the turnaround of Lego, the company could have utilised its significant internet following by sending out targeted customer surveys across social media through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and or email to find out very similar information in a much quicker and cheaper way (Fine J, 2014). The surveys could have directly addressed the companies questions around what customers wanted and what customers were prepared to pay for each toy. 

Profit was considered a very dirty word amongst Lego’s 8,300 employees - “We were not used to talking about money’, one employee said. According to staff, Lego’s founder and former Chief Executive, was a deeply religious and wholesome man who referred to Lego as an educational lifestyle rather than merely a money- making business and company (Delingpole, 2009). The founders original ideology was fixated upon most employees - something the new executive team was struggling to get rid of. According to Kotter (1979), there were four key reasons as to why the executive team struggled to persuade employees to change:

• Self- interest — putting self first before the objectives of the company
• Misunderstandings — when the purpose of change hasn't been communicated
• Different assessments of the situation — employees may disagree on the advantages and disadvantages of change 
• Low tolerance of change — people prefer familiarity and don't like being out of their comfort zone 

In order to abolish this original thinking and implement a new way of thinking with its employees, Lego’s executive team made a conscious decision to change management styles so that the reason for self- interests holding employees back would be void. From leading and managing in a democratic style, all managers were instructed to lead in an autocratic style, a style of leadership that involves managers delegating and telling employees what to do rather than giving employees total freedom of their employment outcomes - something that was not able to be measured and tracked. Lego also needed to convince their employees that the new path Lego was taking was for the better and the day- to- day satisfaction would still be retained under the new management styles (Leadership Toolbox, 2015). In order to convince staff that this new regime would be for the better, Lego introduced extrinsic rewards. In particular, higher salaries and bonuses for all of its staff (Marrero, 2016). The new rewards motivated many staff to agree with the companies changes and continue working towards the new goal. While the tangible reward for changing clearly helped persuade staff, Lego could have ensured the smooth transition by introducing intrinsic rewards as well. The intrinsic reward system would have provided much more employee satisfaction and enrichment and would have saved Lego a considerable amount of money initially as they would only be spending money on improving their quality employees - employees who were committed to Lego (Watson, 2014). 

It is clear that the strategies Lego and its executive team implemented were effective and ultimately lead to the turnaround of the business. In 2013, Lego’s revenue hit US$4.7 billion making it once again, the largest toy company by both revenue and net profit surpassing Mattel with a considerable margin. 

Bibliography

Primary Sources

• Delingpole J, 2009, When Lego lost its head - and how this toy story got its happy ending, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1234465/When-Lego-lost-head--toy-story-got-happy-ending.html#ixzz40gMJUNIP  
• Nast Marrero, 2016, Senior Agile Consultant at Lego // Email Interview

Secondary Sources

1. Daniels S, 2016, Business Management Class
2. Fine J, 2014, How to do Market Research, http://www.inc.com/guides/marketing/24018.html 
3. Leadership Toolbox, 2015, Leadership Styles: Autocratic Leadership, http://www.leadership-toolbox.com/autocratic-leadership.html 
4. Lutz A, 2015, Lego’s Turnaround Strategy’ http://www.businessinsider.com.au/legos-turnaround-strategy-2015-5 
5. Ringen J & Jensen A, 2015, http://www.fastcompany.com/3040223/when-it-clicks-it-clicks 
6. Robertson D, 2009, Innovating a Turnaround at LEGO, https://hbr.org/2009/09/innovating-a-turnaround-at-lego 
7. Watson Z, 2014, 4 Real-World Examples That Explain Intrinsic Motivation,  http://technologyadvice.com/gamification/blog/4-real-world-examples-clearly-explain-intrinsic-motivation/ 
8. Wharton, 2012, Innovation Almost Bankrupted LEGO — Until It Rebuilt with a Better Blueprint, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/innovation-almost-bankrupted-lego-until-it-rebuilt-with-a-better-blueprint/ 

Legal Studies: Increasing the Legal Drinking Age, Grade 11

Good afternoon madam speaker and fellow distinguished members of parliament. Today, I wish to discuss the potential of an amendment to the Queensland Liquor Act 1992. 

Laws are rules that ensure that society functions in a fair and legitimate way for all citizens. They protect our general safety and reinstate our individual rights as citizens.

Without laws, we would all live in fear. The strongest, hardest and most powerful person, group and or organisation would be in control of society as a whole.  

In Queensland, there are two main sources of law- common law and constitutional law. 

Common law is essentially judge made law. It is the result of judicial decisions of cases that have come before the courts. Decisions that are made by judges in the higher courts become precedents or rules which other judges in the lower courts are obliged to conform with. 

The Australian Constitution is the set of rules by which Australia is governed. It provides the basic rules for the government of Australia including the Commonwealth Parliament and the Parliament of each individual State. Therefore, even an Act passed by a Parliament is invalid if it is contrary to the Australian Constitution. 

Although many people under the age of 21 enjoy a drink of alcohol without any problems, our teens have developed an increasingly dangerous culture of heavy drinking and binge drinking over the last three decades, which over time can have serious consequences. 

The excessive consumption of alcohol not only harms the individual alone but society as a whole in terms of abuse- physical and physiological, crime and driving under the influence of alcohol. 

Under 155A of the Queensland Liquor Act 1992, a person must not sell liquor to a minor. If the person is the licensee of, or an approved manager working at the premises the maximum penalty is 250 units- equivalent to around $30,000. Under 156A an adult must not supply liquor to a minor at a private place, unless the adult is a responsible adult for the minor. The maximum penalty for this 80 units- equivalent to around $10,000. 

The legal age for purchasing and using alcohol in licensed premises was 21 in all Australian states however, these regulations were amended in the late 1960s in each state and the alcohol consumption age was lowered to a mere 18 years. Since then, the drinking age has been subject to political controversy around Australia.

Take Mathew Baldwin for example, are there any hands here that know who he is? 

Basically, during Mathew’s youth he grew and addiction for alcohol. He claims that his 20’s were a blur and when he wasn’t working he would be drinking. 

“Just the monster I became, violent behaviour, speaking to loved ones like I'd never speak to anyone. I lost relationships, friends. Just my mother and father having sleepless nights, having to come out and get me at bus stops, train stations, because I was out of money" he said.

The Australian National Council on Drugs found that one in eight deaths of Australians under 25 are alcohol related. Mathew said that there were numerous occasions when he came close to being in one of those statistics. 

A survey conducted by the Sydney Morning Herald at the end of the Schoolies festival at the Gold Coast in 2010 revealed that 75% of recently graduated students partook in drinking games and 64% of students consumed more than 10 alcoholic beverages per night. A 2013, Youth Risk Behaviour Survey found that among high schoolers 21% binge drink, 10% drove after drinking alcohol and 22% rode with someones who had been drinking alcohol. In the US, a review of seventeen studies in the various states that raised the drinking age found that the average number of young people involved in road accidents decreased by a whopping 16% with the increase of the drinking age. 

Furthermore, youths who drink alcohol are more likely to experience school problems such as absence and poor grades, social problems such as fighting, physical problems such as sickness and hangovers, physical and sexual assault all due to the fact that the alcohol depresses the part of the brain that controls inhibitions. It has also been proven that youth who start drinking before the age of 18 years, are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependance than individuals who begin drinking at or after 21 years. 

With the legal drinking age having previously been 21 years in Queensland, raising the drinking age from 18 years should not be a big issue. An American Gallup Poll found that 77% of Americans would oppose a federal law that lowers the drinking age to 18. It is therefore clear that the majority of the American population supports the current legal drinking age of 21 years. 

Although, many Queenslanders have said that they would oppose the increase of the drinking age to 21 many have argued that as the age of adulthood is 18 years, the drinking age should also be 18 years. It is clear that the amendment is being done in the best interest of the youth, general public and all other parties and overtime the stakeholders would see a significant improvement in public venues such as roads for example as it has been reported that the higher the drinking age, the lower the rate of traffic accidents- therefore minimising the risk for both the youth and other law abiding citizens. 

Freedom Writers: Film Techniques - Stereotypes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c5pbePUc2g

Good Morning! My name is Richard LaGravenese, the Director of the 2007 film Freedom Writers; a tale of a rather new and inexperienced teacher who has been assigned to teaching and inspiring a group of “at- risk” students, a group of students who also happen to be members of opposing gangs that are considered problematic and dangerous in the face of society.

I have utilised a range of camera angles and movements in my film to help construct a profile of the life of Brandy Ross (played by Vanetta Smith) and the experiences she was facing in her unfortunate and violent household. 

The high- angle shots used upon Brandy when she was being beaten by her father in the house was utilised to place the audience in the perspective that she is small, vulnerable and relatively powerless. The high camera angle ensures that Brandy appears smaller in size and stature from the frame of the audience and her father who is beating Brandy and her mother appears to be in a position of power and significance. 

By utilising high angles, I aim to present the dominant nature of the father in the household and the way domestic violence has played a pivotal role in the families life. Her vulnerable position when being attacked represents her vulnerable stature towards society - an example of this is in the opening scene when she is closing her jacket. My use of vulnerability in her life, allows other teenagers who have been influenced by domestic violence or other forms of violence to connect and feel the true emotions she had felt by being a social outcast due to her situation at home. 

By utilising this scene, I have explored Brandy’s search for her true identity within society in the face of violence and emotional devastation. 

Continuing on with camera angles, I have utilised a closeup shot to convey a different effect to the high angle shot that talked about earlier. The closeup shot upon Marcus (played by Jason Finn)  exaggerates his facial expression in a scene when his friend shoots himself, an event that has significantly shaped his life. 

Unlike the high angle shot, the closeup shot of his facial expression aims to convey a sense of emotion and draws the viewer to share Marcus’ feeling towards the incident. Instead of portraying a sense of domination and power like the shot above, the closeup shot magnifies Marcus’ face and allows the audience to understand that he is innocent, unaware as to what is going on and that the idea of suicide is not something he is used to and or comfortable with hence his confused face and facial reaction. 

Whilst initially, following a very stereotypical storyline I have disrupted and challenged the traditional stereotype by introducing the confusion on Marcus’ face to show that what he has just witnessed is new to him and not something that happens in every ‘black persons’ life, but rather only a handful. The consequence he received as a result of being present at the crime scene (despite doing nothing wrong) however was relative to his colour and the fact that his race is looked to as the villains in every situation. By disrupting the stereotype, I have allowed the audience to gain an insight into the life of a young, African- American and allow other people who have experienced unfair consequences based on their race and colour to be able to connect with Marcus and feel what he did when he was put in juvenile detention for something he did not do or partake in, he really just was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

The narration when the teacher (played by Hilary Swank) is reading over her students diary entries convey the messages I want to portray directly to my audience opposed to messages conveyed through another character. My use of narration influences the audiences interpretation of the characters, the situation and the overall story line. 

The narration does not only allow the audience to hear the voice of the victim but more importantly, allows the audience to feel what she is feeling when recalling the unfortunate situation she was faced with. Scientists informed me when filming this scene, that the human brain react strongest to the sound of voices in films and through the use of narration, I have ensured just that. 

It allows members from the audience, to further connect with Brandy and hear her reflection upon the event, her thoughts on the event and the way she was thinking at the time of the event. By doing this, the audience is in a better position to relate to Brandy’s situation and has the opportunity to take action against domestic violence and help prevent such acts happening to other children like Brandy 

It is clear that through the use of camera angles and sound in my movie I have established a profile into the past lives of a select few students who have had experienced racial discrimination for events that students had never committed and or events in which students had no control over. 

English: The Shifting Heart, Grade 11

Introduction:

Picture yourself being an Italian immigrant in the 1950’s.

Imagine yourself stepping into a brand new country full of hope and opportunity and everywhere you go you're faced with discrimination and hate.

Imagine if you were physically and verbally abused because of your heritage.

Richard Beynon’s, The Shifting Heart is a play set in the late 1950’s in a community in Collingwood in Melbourne, Australia. The play provides the audience with an insight into the life of a lower class Italian family, the Bianchi family. Over the course of the play, the family is faced with various controversial challenges including physical and psychological challenges Italian immigrants who moved to Australia in the late 50’s were faced with. 

Richard Beynon, the author has used a Christmas tree as a symbol to explore the theme of hope throughout his play. It is through his use of the Christmas tree that we can see the Italian Immigrants perception of life in Australia in the 1950’s where foreigners were not accepted and were forced to conform with the Australian ways and traditions despite strong acts of prejudice and discrimination from third party citizens as well as fellow family members. 

Body Paragraph 1:

The first element that the audience is introduced to that represents the hope of the Bianchi family is Gino’s mature and genuine act of purchasing the Bianchi’s very first Christmas Tree for Momma as well as the the thought of including eight candles for each of the eight years the family has been in Australia. On Page 39, Momma states ‘in all that time, this; the first Christmas tree’. Her statement reflects upon her hope of a new beginning for the Bianchi family, a beginning for assimilation between the Australian and Italian culture, a beginning of maturity for Gino and a new beginning for Clarry and Maria’s near born baby. At this point in time, Beynon has positioned the audience to feel like the prejudice and discrimination the Bianchi family had faced was coming to an end and daily life was going to improve significantly. 

As Pope John Paul once said, a Christmas Tree ‘exalts the value of life’ and ‘becomes a sign of undying life’. Life in the Bianchi family at the time of the arrival of the Christmas Tree was optimistic and demonstrated Pope John Paul’s saying however, just as Christmas festivities must come to an end at one point in time and Christmas trees must come down after the Christmas period, the families happiness and optimism also comes to an end which is exhibited through Gino’s dramatic death in the latter of the play. 

Beynon’s connection between the Bianchi families dying hope has been effectively conveyed through the timing of the play coinciding with the Christmas period and the fact that all good things, which in this case was the novelty of the families very first Christmas tree must come to an end at one point in time which was expressed through Gino’s death.

Body Paragraph 2 :

The second element that the audience is introduced to that represents the hope of the Bianchi family is Gino’s gift of the Christmas tree as well as the specific number of candles that were housed within the tree.

On Page 39 Momma is quoted saying ‘Eighta years! One for each year we come to this country’.  

Gino’s gift to Momma Bianchi was a Christmas tree with eight candles. The eight candles that were gifted represented the hope the Bianchi family had of living a calm and positive life. The candle light represented Gino’s intended thoughts of providing a clear path for the family - keeping controversy and negativity away. Little does he know, life for the Bianchi family will soon take a turn for the worse resulting in his death. 

Beynon utilises the candles to position the audience into feeling a sense of direction and stability for the Bianchi family. As soon as the audience feels comfortable with the positive direction of the family, the play exhibits that the prejudice and discrimination towards Italian immigrants from the Australian community has not nearly been shifted or lost but rather increased and the hope the Bianchi once had of interacting and assimilating with the Australian community and culture was completely abolished. 

Conclusion:

It’s clear that Beynon has utilised a range of acts of prejudice and discrimination to prove that assimilation between the Italian culture and Australian culture is impossible and the hope the Bianchi family once had of the intercultural mingling was complete and utterly terminated. The hope and life of the Christmas period was merely a distraction and pause for the Bianchi family and  the eight candles that once signified a clear path for the families future is now just a set of eight ordinary candles. 

I’d like to leave you with one final quote today; as Ellie Wiesal once said ‘“No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them” ‘

Bridging the Poverty Gap!

According to the World Wealth Report, the top 10% of wealthy individuals control 86% of the entire global wealth while the ‘poorer’ half of the globe only owns 1% of the world’s wealth. 50% of the 2.2 billion children around the world live in poverty - therefore every other child lives in dire circumstances. 

While many children in established regions enjoy the luxury of learning in a multi modal environment, children in these establishing regions have limited to no access to such educational environments. 

The International Labour Organisation estimates that some 215 million children globally between the ages of 5 and 17 years have to work, so there is often no time left to attend school. 

Having personally worked with children in these establishing regions, it has been clear that if we enable children to discover the world of education we will be able to help each individual child achieve their personal dreams in today’s emerging 21st Century Digital Economy. 

Providing opportunity for a new generation to beat the poverty trap should be a key goal. However, in today’s technology based world, the traditional teaching methods in these regions represent an outdated way to address the global wealth issue. These traditional teachings include farming, mining, stitching and cleaning. 

Over the past few years, various organisations and philanthropists have attempted to help solve this global crisis in the form of providing educational technology to these regions however, only a small percentage of the underprivileged population has been able to utilise this material to create a better future. 

Take Sir Li Ka- shing for example, who’s heard of him?

When Li was 15, his father died of tuberculosis. In order to support his family, Li had to leave his education behind and work at a plastic plant. Unlike many, Li was given the unique opportunity by the plant owner to discover exactly how to operate the plant. In 1950, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company, a few years later he grew to be the largest supplier of plastic and to date is the wealthiest person in Asia with a net worth of $31.9 billion. The plant owner gifted with education gave back and allowed Li to create a better future for himself and his family. 

If us, somewhat educated individuals replicated the plant owners mentality in the future we could together empower less educated children to believe in themselves, their unique individual abilities and personal talents. It only takes something simple like giving someone who is less fortunate the opportunity to learn a new skill to help solve poverty. Alternatively, if you’re feeling a tad generous you can take the ‘mainstream’ approach of donating in the form of a cash sponsorship or through your old books to your local charity. 

Given that education is a key leverage point to tackle the negative impacts of poverty and that these children want to attend school, a renewed, 21st century style commitment to public education is essential. 

I’d like to leave you with one quote today, true intelligence is not about knowledge, but imagination.