Hey guys! hahaa wow we're finally done with our drama assessment! and guess what, it wasn't so bad after all! i mean, who would have thought we could have done so well? haha and i still remembered when we had 0 ideas about anything..

but i have to admit, it was a really fun and enjoyable time working and acting with everyone in our group! woohoo 3 cheers for us! HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!:D

WELL DONE EVERYONE!<3 and special thanks to minghui for most of the things to be possible! hehee i think without a chinese drama person in our group, we also wouldn't have known what exactly is to be done! xD

wheeee let's all jiayous!:D

<3,
Jane aka Jermaine

my busstop guycame at 9:42 AM

HELLO EVERYONE :D

haha though I doubt anyone would see this, but YAY CONGRATS TO ALL OF US FOR GETTING CHOSEN TO BE THE PLAY THAT'S REPRESENTING OUR CLASS! :DDD

let's jiayouuuu & get into the finals & WIN THE FINALS ALSO! (ok maybe not but yeah. just to boost our esteem :D) wakakakaka >:D

-jerkson! :D

my busstop guycame at 10:49 PM

FACTS ON ABUSE!! :D:D

1. Definition:
· Harshly or coarsely insulting language, or bad or improper treatment; maltreatment
· Child abuse is harm to, or neglect of, a child by another person, whether adult or child. Child abuse happens in all cultural, ethnic, and income groups. Child abuse can be physical, emotional - verbal, sexual or through neglect. Abuse may cause serious injury to the child and may even result in death.

2. Types of Abuse: Physical abuse, Emotional (Verbal) abuse, Sexual abuse, Child abuse, Spousal abuse, Alcohol abuse (etc..)

3. Physical Abuse:
· Unexplained or repeated injuries such as welts, bruises or burns.
· Injuries that are in the shape of an object (belt buckle, electric cord, etc.)
· Injuries not likely to happen given the age or ability of the child. For example, broken bones in a child too young to walk or climb.
· Disagreement between the child's and the parent's explanation of the injury.
· Unreasonable explanation of the injury.
· Obvious neglect of the child (dirty, undernourished, inappropriate clothes for the weather, lack of medical or dental care).
· Fearful behavior.

4. Emotional (verbal) abuse:
· Aggressive or withdrawn behavior
· Shying away from physical contact with parents or adults
· Afraid to go home.

5. Sexual abuse:
· Child tells you he/she was sexually mistreated
· Child has physical signs such as difficulty in walking or sitting, stained or bloody underwear, genital or rectal pain, itching, swelling, redness or discharge, bruises or other injuries in the genital or rectal area
· Child has behavioral and emotional signs such as difficulty in eating or sleeping, soiling or wetting pants or bed after being potty trained, acting like a much younger child, excessive crying or sadness, withdrawing from activities and others, talking about or acting out sexual acts beyond normal sex play for age

6. Child abuse:
· Over 3 million (3,195,000) children were reported for child abuse and neglect to child protective service (CPS) agencies in the United States, in 1997. The “Prevent Child Abuse-America” reports that currently, about 47 out of every 1000 children are reported as victims of child maltreatment. Overall, child abuse reporting levels have increased 41% between 1988 and 1997.

7. Spousal abuse:
· Spousal abuse goes much further than physical beatings.
· Tight financial control is also frequently prevalent in an abusive relationship. The victim is often allowed only a very small allowance and expected to accept it without question. Humiliation, put-downs, name calling, criticism, screaming at the victim, ignoring the victim... these are all additional things on the list of occurrences that constitute psychological and emotional abuse.

8. Alcohol abuse:
· Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that results in ongoing alcohol-related relationship problems; the failure to attend to important responsibilities at home, school, or at work; drinking situations that can result in physical injury; and/or the experience of recurring alcohol-related legal problems.
· Due to the fact that alcoholism, the abuse of alcohol, and binge drinking affect 14 million individuals in the United States and millions of other people throughout the world, the negative consequences of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction present all developed and industrialized countries with major societal and personal problems.
· Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse cost the United States an estimated $220 billion in 2005. This dollar amount was more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) and obesity ($133 billion).
· Every day in the U.S. more than 13,000 children and teens take their first drink.
· The 25.9% of underage drinkers who are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all underage drinkers.
· Every year in the U.S. more than 150,000 college students develop health problem that are alcohol-related.
· The 9.6% of adult alcoholics drink 25% of the alcohol that is consumed by all adult drinkers.
· American youth who drinking before the of age 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than young people who do not drink before the age of 21.
· Every year, 1,400 American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related inadvertent injuries, including motor vehicle accidents.
· In the United States during 2004, 16,694 deaths occurred as a result of alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes. This amount was approximately 39% of all traffic fatalities. This amounts to one alcohol-related death every 31 minutes.

9. This are just some random facts on abuse:
· At least 1.8 million women are battered each year in the United States.
· Battering is the single major cause of death to women, exceeding rapes, mugging and auto accidents.
· Between 2000 and 4000 women are beaten to death each year in the United States.
· The suicides of 20% of white women and 50% of black women are receded by incidents of domestic violence.
· 60% of all married women experience physical violence by their husbands at some time during their marriage
· 60% of battered women are also raped by their husbands
· 90% of battered women report that their children witnessed the battering
· In 30% of cases of abuse against women, children are also abused.
· 68% of boys between the ages of 11 and 20 kill the man who has been beating their mother
· More than 50% of the homeless women on the streets left home to escape beatings
· 50 to 80% of the women treated at hospital emergency rooms are there for injuries inflicted by their domestic partners
· 80% of men who batter commit no other crime

- WENLI :D

my busstop guycame at 9:34 PM

Hello! It's me again!

Ok, apparently, I found out that if you type "teenagers crazy over idols" you get lots of paretal advice and lots of other (rather) useful stuff.

Here an article!

Tips for Handling the Teen Idol Craze
By Denise Witmer, About.com

Let's face it, at some point each one of our teenagers will drive us crazy with their adoration of a teen idol. We did it, our parents before us did it and the cycle will continue through the end of time. Here are some tips to handle the teen idol craze:

Check them out. You have a world of resources on the Net, you can get information on any teen idol with a minimum of fuss. If you don't approve, then let your teenager know in a respectful, but stern, fashion. If the CDs have parental warnings, remember many can come edited. Ask for the options at the store.

Wall tack! If you have a teenager that must have every poster in the world up on their walls, ceilings, doors, etc. ~ use wall tack! Tape can rip the drywall and push pins leave holes.
Set your expectations. Let your teen in on just how far you'll go with the teen idol craze. If you don't want half nude posters on the wall, then you need to let them know before the poster is bought. If they are disturbing everyone else in the house with their music, set up an action plan on keeping down the volume.

Use it to teach them money management. CD collections, posters and concert tickets cost money. Suggest a new responsibility for your teenager to take over to make a few extra bucks so they can earn it.

Share the memories. Yes, they will think that you are so old, but who cares? Share your memories about how you drove your parents crazy with your teen idols and music. This makes a great family dinner conversation. It also adds to the back and forth family humor that will last for years to come, and can be cherished forever.


So now you know what your parents will be up to if you are in any craze!

Ying Yee

my busstop guycame at 7:54 PM

Hello all!

I'm doing on "Idolism"- Facts and Stories.

Fact: There are many types of "Idolism". The one we were thinking of? The superstar idolism? That's just one of them. There's also the religion kind of idolism- where you worship gods or stuff like that. You can say it's a kind of believe.

There. That's a simple fact. Hope that helps for the other idolism researchers!

Here's a report I've found which is partly related to idolism. Not entirely. Partly.
http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ach/article/viewFile/3084/2852

It's saying that Taiwanese youth watch lots of foreign dramas and foreign dramas are invading the Taiwan television. (KOREAN!!!. partly because of <<) It's also complaining that youths usually pay more attention to the script, character and idolism rather than the programmes' aesthetic properties and ideology. Korean dramas utilise their hot, handsome, pretty and cute people to make Taiwanese youth idolise them, (in the report) "generating a number of young avid Taiwanese fans all over the country. Their "idolisation" encourage them to buy goods that are related to their idols, like clothes, shoes, etc. About 50% of teenagers tend to imitate how the characters behave and act in the series. "Anything related to these foreign programmes become popular commodities among local consumers."

You can go read through it if you want more detailed information.

This is what i found so far. Hope it helps :D

Ying Yee

my busstop guycame at 4:44 PM

Hi!

this is one typical example of idolization. It is about a fan of Andy Lau.

Chinese media report that one of Andy Lau 's fans from Lanzhou Gansu Province has been so infatuated with her idol that she caused her family to be reduced to poverty and ruin. Her father, 68, even sold his kidney to get money in order to support his daughter's fanatic idolization of Andy Lau. Last week, after she finally met Andy Lau, she apparently still was not satisfied, supposedly driving her father to commit suicide on March 27.
Last week her father and mother came to Hong Kong in order to let their daughter meet Andy Lau. Since they did not have enough money to go back, they had to sleep in a fast – food restaurant. After the mother and daughter fell asleep, the father left his last will and jumped into the sea. Later, police confirmed that the father was dead.

Bao Yi

my busstop guycame at 1:04 PM

Hello busstoppers! hahahas okok this is our very first story! whee the scary...ABUSE! MUAHAHAHA! enjoy...:D oh yeah, they are TRUE but with fake names:D

Jane

My journey to hell and back began twelve years ago. I met him when he moved in next door to me. We became friends and later he moved in with me and we became an item. He had me hook, line and sinker, a real charmer. He was a rebel, and life became fast and exciting. Parties, dancing, drinking and then more drinking.

I didn’t see it coming. We out with some of his mates and he had been drinking all day, and then his old girlfriend arrived. I was upset because he sat on her knee and kissed her, so I went to sit in the car. He came bellowing over, so I locked the door. He put his fist through the passenger window then dragged me through it. After receiving a punch in the head, one of his friends drove me home. At home I tended to my sore head, scrapes and bruises, but what hurt most was that it happened at all. The next day when he arrived at the flat he was full of remorse - things would be different, he wouldn’t drink and he would never hurt me again.

I believed him; things did improve for a while. Soon I discovered I was pregnant, he seemed over the moon with the news. A few months later he came home drunk, and after arguing he punched me in the stomach. I ended up in hospital with a ruptured cyst on my ovary. The baby was all right. Returning home I gave him an ultimatum - his mates or me. He chose me.

However after our baby was born the drinking continued, and the abuse continued. I stayed, as I could not see a way out. Brief times when he was sober, things seemed pleasant. My way of life became moving from one house to another with him, as people became aware of my situation (the domestic abuse), although I had learnt to hide the bruises and he was good at not leaving them where they could be seen. Over the years I took out several Intervention Orders on him, which I then dropped when he made his promises and sometimes, even, threats against me.
On our child’s birthday he received a gaol sentence of several months for drink driving and assault on a police officer. I still didn’t leave. During his time in gaol I visited often - he made more promises: no more drinking, no more abuse. When he left gaol, things were great for a while, and I hoped that his time in gaol had changed him. I got pregnant again, this time with twins. When I was pregnant we moved again, this time to be closer to his family, as I was going to need help and support with twins on the way. This was a move I should never have made. His father also had a drinking problem; they were a bad influence on each other. During my pregnancy he abused me again and again. Another time I pulled a kitchen knife on him and he laughed, as he knew I would not use it, then he spat in my face. There were times when he was at the hotel with his parents, I would pray that someone would knock on my door and tell me he was dead, rather than face him coming home. I was trapped; the only people I knew were his family. I had no way out.

Once our new babies were born, things remained the same. I looked after the children; he went to the hotel or to smoke dope with a mate. Life was tough and often there was no money for food. I stopped eating so what we had would go further. As long as he had his beer he didn’t care. He would complain when the babies cried and tell me `to shut them up or else.’ Every day I lived in fear, never knowing what his mood would be.

One day I left him to care for the twins, so I could collect our eldest child from daycare. I returned home to find one of the twins was cold and shaking, I was horrified. It turned out they had a dirty nappy and he had put them in the bath with a cold shower running, in the middle of winter. A few weeks later when collect one of the twins from her cot I found she had a blanket was over her, and a shirt was wrapped around her head and shoved in her mouth. Quickly I removed it and she gasped for breath. I was shocked and angry. How could he do this to his own child? I confronted him and rang his parents for help. When his parents arrived, his father was drunk, saying `it’s alright son, I know she’s bullshitting’. He swung a few punches at me, then left to go to his parents for the night.

I was distraught, frightened, and knew I had to protect my children. I found the phone book and looked under ‘Domestic Violence’ in the front. I got several phone numbers; I started with the first. The first few refuges I rang were full and asked if I could wait. Finally I rang a Salvation Army refuge, and an elderly man answered; I don’t know how he understood me through my many sobs as I tried to tell my story. He said `not now, tell me when you get here, do you need help, how soon can you get here?’ my reply was` we are on our way.’ I grabbed my box of photo albums, a garbage bag of clothes for the children and myself, and took my dog, which had been a loyal friend for many years, and we left.

Driving early that morning, I was a little scared of the future, but not like I had been every day for the last five years. The eggshells I had been treading on were gone, my children could cry and I didn’t have to shush them. I was determined to turn my life around.
I spent a week at that refuge before moving interstate. I changed my name, and began to rebuild my life. A few months later, I moved into a housing commission house, got part time work, and had started making friends for the first time since leaving school. Life was great.
Fourteen months later, after I trusted the wrong person, he contacted me. He pleaded with me to believe that he had changed, he been to counseling, anger management etc. etc. He was real convincing - the old charm was back. I agreed to give it a trial, but said that things would have to go slowly. He could not live with me. And no more alcohol. He saw us once a month to begin with as he lived a long way away. Soon he moved to the town where I was living.

One weekend he was staying with us, he started drinking. We argued and I asked him to leave, he refused. I went to phone the police. He hit the phone out of my hands and pushed me to my knees. He put one hand around my throat and squeezed. I was able to break away and I ran out the front door. He caught up to me in the neighbour’s garden, pushed me to the ground and started punching and kicking me. I thought he was going to kill me. A female voice called out that she had called the police and he fled. I believe if it wasn’t for the intervention of a stranger, I’d not be here today!

How the situation changed
He was charged with assault but only received a good behavior bond. I was bitterly disappointed in the legal system. As the court had allowed him contact with children, I still had to face him every second weekend. I wanted nothing to do with him. He would not accept the relationship was over and one night returned to my house and started smashing the windows (the children were not there). I called the police and he was arrested.
I haven’t spoken to him since. I am still fighting him in court; he wants contact with the children. He’s been back in prison several times, for similar offences. It is long process and I am hoping it will soon come to an end.
We moved to a new house. Although I was advised to move towns, I decided to stay. I had built a network of friends and support in this community. He was not going to beat me again. The Salvation Army has given us so much support. I know there is always someone that I can talk to, who will listen and even pray for me at times that I need them to. I wanted to do something for myself and three years ago I joined a marital arts club, through the club I have made new friends. I am no longer afraid, have self-confidence, I have worked hard to get where I am and am proud of what I have achieved.

Last year I met the most beautiful man – he is kind and gentle, and we connected straight away. Best of all the children think he is wonderful, and he them. He always has time for them, he listens to them read, and makes their school lunches, fixes their bikes, and plays football with them. Most of all, he loves them as his own. We spend time camping, fishing and he always makes us feel safe. Our life is complete, and I am thankful everyday that I have him in my life. I will cherish what the future brings, and we’re planning for our wedding next year.

for more juicy stories, please click here http://www.dvirc.org.au/HelpHub/Stories/Jane.htm

<3,
Jermaine

my busstop guycame at 10:42 PM