Cadbury's Naomi Campbell ad not racist, rules watchdog

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/20/cadbury-naomi-campbell-ad-not-racist

Summary

A press advertisement by Cadbury inspired an assessment by the Council of the Advertising Standards Authority into possible racism. The advertisement depicted a Cadbury chocolate bar with text saying: ‘’Move over Naomi, there’s a new diva in town’’ shocked Naomi Campbell and the group Operation Black Vote. Cadbury stated it was not a remark on Naomi Campbell’s skin colour but her diva attitude they were referring to. The Council did not see the need for further investigation into the campaign but Cadbury still made a public apology and withdrew their press advertisements.

Response

In my eyes the moment you use someone’s name in an advertisement and the person in question has a problem with it, the advertisements should be changed or dropped entirely. In this case Cadbury itself willingly dropped the advertisements and made a public apology, this I encourage greatly and shows the company has a good (in my opinion) social awareness. On the other hand I think Naomi Campbell has overreacted a bit. Though she sure is being compared to a bar of chocolate it’s not because of her colour and I believe most people would know this.

P.S. I prefer the bar of chocolate over Naomi Campbell any day.

Traditional high street businesses lose out to coffee shops and nail bars

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/16/traditional-high-street-businesses-lose-out

Summary

A study done by insurer Simply Business shows that the face of the average high street is changing. Competition between larger chains of supermarkets and smaller stores such as butchers and newsagents, and the rise in coffee shops and beauticians are the main causes for the changes. The government has issued a review be made on the future state of the high street. Based on the results of this review the government will try to find a way to help high streets flourish and keep the stores and shops diverse.

Response

Personally I think it’s a good initiative from the government to try and see how they can keep the high streets from being dominated by only larger chains of stores and beauticians and turning monotone. The phenomenon of private owned stores being overrun by competition of supermarkets is not just something that can be seen in the UK, but something that is happening all over the world. The British government is not the first to take action in preserving the face of their high streets and will hopefully not be the last.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wear-13780234

June 15, 2011

Sunderland Council apologises after rape by boy, 11

Summary

The Sunderland city council failed to act upon multiple warning letters concerning an 11 year old youth, which led to the eleven-year old raping a nine-year old in his bedroom. The eleven-year old had already been known to multiple agencies, who did not launch a cooperative countermeasure. The young rapist is currently being held in a detention center and will be supervised for 8 years, four and a half of which will be spent in detention.

The council has devised a number of countermeasures to prevent future cases such as this one from happening again.

Reaction

I think it is more than a slight mishap if a government appointed agency lets something like this happen while it has had more than one warning concerning the child in question. Hence, it is to be expected of them to look into what went wrong and how to prevent future situations like these from happening. It is nothing to applaud them for, it is quite strange that a flaw in the system so severe as this one has been overlooked.

P.S.  In America they would have been sooooo sued!

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/art-therapy-for-offenders-helps-them-to-heal-2274077.html

Art therapy for offenders helps them to 'heal'

A new form of psychotherapy called art therapy is now used as a part of research and rehabilitation for dangerous criminals. Researchers want to get a better understanding of the minds of the patients and at the same time the patients learn more about themselves through the artistic expression. At a convention in Edinburgh the police, psychiatrists and academics are going to talk about a number of different forms of treating criminals.

These kinds of treatments, according to American psychiatrist professor James Gilligan,  are not meant as a punishment but meant as research into the minds of offenders and provide information that can help other people from acting out.

 

 

Using art to dig into the minds of offenders and learn more about how and why their behavior has formed into the way it is now is a good initiative. I think that it is good to keep looking into the minds of criminals and see what it is that makes them tick. If there is even the faintest possibility of getting more insight into how criminal behavior can be prevented it is worth a try in my opinion.

I am curious as to what the results of this approach will be. I myself have been a patient under a form of pediatric art therapy and found it to put me at ease and also, as stated in the article, teach me more about myself and my feelings.  As opposed to the offenders undergoing this form or art therapy I was not an inmate or offender, so the therapy they get will probably be different from the form of therapy I got all those years ago.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/24/pupils-facebook-friends-net-privacy-teachers

Pupils are not your Facebook friends, net privacy expert warns teachers

The National Union of Teachers is warning teachers and headmasters alike to be discreet about their activities on the internet. Information they leave on their social networking sites is occasionally not suited nor meant for pupils’ and employers’ eyes.

On top of that employers are increasingly more often also checking the internet for information on possible employees and there are plenty of instances in which an applicant had been denied a job because of information they left on their social networking sites. One should, however, not only mind their internet activities when applying for a job but also when already an employer.

Social networking sites are getting increasingly more popular with schoolchildren and this also results in more cyber-bullying and cyber-gossiping, the latter having its own sites.

I think it’s important to be careful and discreet on what information other people can find when they go hunting for information on you. The NUT informing teachers on the potential harm social networking sites can cause them is a good initiative, especially considering not all teachers are aware of the ‘dangers’. Nowadays teacher training colleges warn their students about being discreet with their online activities, something that teachers who have been teaching for a dozen or so years have not been warned about during their studies.

‘Stop Snitching’ Campaign Angers Police Investigating Shooting of Girl, Five

(source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/13/thusha-kamalsewaran-stop-snitching-campaign)

A website has been trying to keep witnesses to the shooting of a five year old girl and thirty five year old man and the murder of another murder from contacting the police. The website that first started operating in 2010, after the murder of Sylvester Akapalara accuses the police of making false promises to people who would inform them. The site also offers a list of informers and a possibility to report a ‘snitch’. The police insists that it does take good care of its informers and is glad that despite the webcampaign  people have still been relaying their information to the police.

Response

To try and silence people and stop them from contacting the police is to me a form of terrorism, especially if you dedicate a site to exposing and listing people who do feel like it is their responsibility to inform the police on what they have seen. I also think the police should act against these types of campaigns as they could potentially instill fear in people and create unrest in a community, which could lead to further problems and civil unrest if left to fester long enough.

Private Schools Line Up To Become Free

Due to the government’s policy to instate more free schools a number of private schools will become free schools.  This will, according to some, have drastic consequences for neighboring schools. These other schools might lost a number of students to the newly instated free schools and this in turn might lead to job losses in these schools. On the other hand, parents of students who could under normal circumstances not afford the fee for their children to attend a private school with an alternative view on learning now do have that opportunity.

Reaction

I personally believe that the article and the people interviewed for it are putting a big emphasis on the schools, but not as much on the students. This leaves me to think about what the consequences for the students would be. I think the students might very well benefit from having more versatility in the schools they could attend. I do however think it might be too big a step to start converting so many schools into free schools without having a clear view on what the consequences might be on neighboring schools and the pupils themselves. Perhaps it would have been a safer choice to appoint one school as a means of experimenting.