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.