Random Ramblings

Erratic Posting

My A level exams start in just over a month so it's probably wise that I break with the habit of a lifetime and actually start revising before I go on study leave. If I stick to it expect far fewer posts than usual; if I don't then posting will continue as normal.

What Genre Of Rock Are You?


Old school punk! You just say what you have to say
regardless of what everyone else thinks!
You're one of my most favourite types of
music... You're raw and uncut! You're
surrounded by hype...just don't let it make you
go insane...


What genre of rock are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Via Rob Tiffen

Thumbs Down

Apparently Lembit isn't engaged after all. Sian must be gutted. Perhaps the article was just an excuse to scare everyone with stories of late night baths.

Fake

So The Mirror's torture pictures were definitely faked. Unfortunately, judging by the Red Cross report, the story behind them probably wasn't.

Oops

When I arrived at school this morning my mates told me that the Headmaster wanted to see me urgently. Oops. He'd specifically asked that I didn't take the sex education motion to the press, so I didn't, but it obviously looked like I had. I was fully expecting him to blow his top but instead he told me that the governors were going to conduct a review of the school's sex education. He then got on to the article. He wasn't very happy that the journalist had got me to get quotes for him (the Head thought they were made up at first) because there was no way of proving they were real. Apparently he's having lunch with the editor later in the week. He did however admit that the article had come across quite well!

Skankin' All Night

The Moon Ska Europe tour hit the Rugeley Rose last night. Moon Ska Europe have some of the best ska punk bands in the country and are currently showcasing a few on the Launch Pad Tour.

The gig started earlier than usual so I missed Dumpster Pop. Sonic Boom Six were up next and I was pretty disappointed. I haven't heard any recorded stuff so perhaps they're better in the studio.

Babar Luck (ex King Prawn bassist) did an excellent acoustic set with his wife. He was absolutely hilarious and as with the rest of the bands spent a lot of time mocking the people who'd paid for the gig then spent their time in the bar instead. I've never understood why people do it as you can take alcohol into the band room anyway. I don't know whether he's released/releasing anything but he put Sonic Boom Six to shame.

Graveltrap are a pretty standard punk band. Not bad but not amazing either. Zen Baseball Bat on the other hand were fantastic. Their trumpets made in impossible not to skank along. It's probably the most exercise I've had this year! I recommend heading to their website and downloading something.

For those of you who were wondering, skankin' is an odd style of dancing you do to ska. It involves waving your arms as if you were running in slow motion and kicking each leg up and sideways in turn. Yes, you do look as stupid as it sounds, but so does everyone else in the room.

Boris Watch

"Boris Johnson is, frankly, the mutt's nads. And anyone of that calibre needs to be watched."

How did I miss this?

LDYS Forum

The LDYS Forum has proved hugely successful. Today the forum got it's 200th registered member and people still seem to be joining at a steady pace. The forum is open to everyone and if you'd like to debate politics and current affairs with people from a variety of parties it's worth a visit.

Lidl & Litter 3

The Post and Times also published these letters including one from a pupil. Quite where the woman has got the impression that "hundreds of schoolchildren" gather there I don't know. There isn't room even if we wanted to!

LITTER CLEAN-UP CALL DELIGHTS ME

I am sure that hundreds of people of all ages, let alone pensioners, will be delighted that the Town Mayor, Marilyn Betts, is at last demanding a clean-up of the alleyway and stairway leading from our town centre to the Lidl store. As Mrs Jean Wickham pointed out several years ago, the state of both places is an ongoing utter disgrace in terms of the filth and potentially dangerous litter strewn around there all the time. I know of many old people who have nearly had serious accidents slipping on materials dumped on the stairway and the pathway is a daily gathering place for hundreds of schoolchildren who eat snacks etc and just hurl their litter, bottles and cans all around them. Is it the council's responsibility to clean up this dangerous mess or that of the Lidl management? I think the public deserves an urgent answer from both parties and hope this will be speeded up due to the intervention of Cllr Betts before some serious accident occurs.

Jane Scrivener, Balance Hill, Uttoxeter

PUT BINS IN PLACE

Referring to your article about pupils volunteering for litter picking, when I first read it I was proud to be a Thomas Alleyne's High School student studying my A-levels there and having people from the school picking up litter. But, as I continued to read the article, I was disgusted to read that students were being partly blamed for the mess. It is easy to blame the students from the nearby school, but they should look at other people in Uttoxeter who use the alley. Wouldn't it be a good idea for the council to pay for litter bins to be placed in the area to solve the problem?

Michelle, Student Thomas Alleyne's School

WHY NOT HELP PICK LITTER?

It is great to see the council and Thomas Alleyne's pupils reaching such a sensible and helpful solution to the litter problem in the Lidl alleyway. I was impressed with the response from the school's students' council and its offer to tidy up the mess. Jean Wickham, however, should be ashamed. She moans that the pupils have 'at last adopted a more responsible attitude'. At last? The issue has only been in the paper a couple of weeks and this is their first comment on the matter. They invited Jean to help them clear up a problem she is protesting about, but she refused. Surely she displayed arrogance when she commented that as the students were young and fit she was sure they could do it without older people helping them with a problem they helped to create. Unfortunately, her comments reflect an increasing trend in society to put the blame on the young. In my experience, young people look to adults for an example. Rather than paying back-handed compliments. Jean Wickham might like to look at why people drop litter in the first place. The chairman of the Alleyne's students' council may be young, but I understand she is also physically disabled. If she can still manage to pick up a bit of litter, then I feel that Jean Wickham can, too. I am tired of people whose only contribution to this town is to moan about young people and problems and then fail to help with a solution. Can Alleyne's pupils publish details of their litter picks in the Post & Times so more reasonable residents can go and help? I, for one, would be there.

Elderly Resident (Name and address supplied)

As far as I know, Lidl still haven't issued a response in the press.

The Article

This appeared under the title "Give us morning-after pill, Alleyne's school council says" followed by the headline "Cut pregnancies, teenagers plead".

Senior pupils are demanding free access to the controversial "morning after" pill to halt a wave of unwanted schoolgirl pregnancies.

Their representatives plan to meet soon to formalise their request as their gesture towards reducing the record number of under-age pregnancies currently occurring across East Staffordshire. The move is planned by senior students who are members of the school council at Thomas Alleyne's High School in Uttoxeter, representing hundreds of girls who travel to attend it from villages in the district.

Five Thomas Alleyne's pupils became "accidentally pregnant" last year alone.

Now, senior girls and boys from the school are hoping the East Staffordshire Primary Healthcare NHS Trust will take their plea on board.

School council chairman, Jade Farrington, said it was hoped the trust would realise that one of the best ways to safeguard young women from the results of irresponsible sexual behaviour would be to provide someone they could contact in confidence and virtually immediately obtain a "morning after" pill free of charge.

This was impossible at the moment, as the pill was only available over the counter at pharmacies to over-18s and was being sold at prices many young people could not afford even if an adult bought it on their behalf.

She said: "I am lucky in that I would feel at ease in discussing personal problems with my parents, but some girls who might fear they are in danger of being pregnant after a particularly hectic night out dare not ask theirs for help and currently have few other responsible people to approach in the short time available to prevent a potential pregnancy.

"The pill ought to be available free of charge for girls in this position as the NHS accepts it has a duty to provide advice, support and positive help in the interests of youngsters with health problems," she said.

Jade said male and female students needed extra encouragement to behave more responsibly and use reliable birth control methods if they felt unable to restrain themselves from full sexual intercourse.

"We are all only human and it is obvious that this does go on among more senior pupils who are young adults with natural urges, but an unwanted pregnancy can have a disastrous effect on someone's future life in terms of an interrupted education and far poorer prospects of successful careers," said another council member.

Various pupils and teachers at Alleyne's have expressed their opinions on the issue in confidential interviews with Jade and fellow-school council members.

"There should be better sex education on how to avoid pregnancy in the first place and condoms and the morning-after pill should be freely available as things can go tragically wrong," said one senior female student.

One male teacher said: "I don't have any problem with this idea, but the only concern would be who they would get the pill off? It would need to be a medical person and someone they could confide in and not necessarily a member of the staff."

Although the school has recently had a visit from a sexual health roadshow of health professionals and drug abuse experts, pupils feel they do not receive enough sex education and condoms should also be freely available to male students as a primary practical safeguard against unwanted pregnancies.

"The lack of sex education here is appalling at the moment and should be improved and started with youngsters at a far earlier age in addition to providing the morning-after pill as a last resort if girls fear they are in trouble," said several male students.

Deputy headteacher, Suzanne O'Farrell, said the school had several measures in hand to promote responsible sex education and general healthy lifestyle practices, including the avoidance of drug and alcohol abuse.

She could not comment on the NHS Trust's reaction to a request for a freely available morning-after pill, but added: "It is a fact that any teenage pregnancy is one too many."

The openness of senior pupils at Alleyne's was welcomed yesterday by county and borough councillor, Philip Atkins, who recently headed a county council probe into how more help could be given to schools facing specific problems, including unhealthy lifestyles, unwanted pregnancies, obesity and bullying.

"I hope schools and the health authorities collaborate more closely to provide more positive help and support for youngsters facing sexual health problems," he said.

The Primary Care Trust said requests for help in avoiding unwanted teenage pregnancies would be carefully considered as East Staffordshire has one of the highest rates of pregnancies involving girls aged 15 or even younger.

As you can probably tell from the style I didn't actually say any of it but nevermind. The only person who's wound up is the Headmaster. The Head of Citizenship whose responsibility it was to set up the Council is pretty chuffed as he'll be able to show Ofsted newspaper clippings!

Sex Education

On Tuesday the Student Council passed a motion calling for a review of Thomas Alleyne's High School's sex education, and for the morning after pill and condoms to be available free of charge in school. Today there was an article on page 3 of the Post and Times and response has been very positive. Even the local Tory councillors have called the paper to give their support! Once again the journalist made up quotes in my name so I asked him to clear them with me in future. I'll post the article as soon as it appears online.