The R word. Chances are youve heard it, chances are you use it, but do you really know its significance? Read here.

The word "Retarded" has been plaguing the english language for many years now and is used commonly among teenagers. What people dont realise is that it is highly offensive, thats right HIGHLY offensive. But despite this the word "Retarded" has still entered pop culture as a mainstream word.

Why is it offensive? I hear you asking.

Well here it is in short

People usually use the word "Retarded" when talking about a friend about someone who is stupid. It is often misconcieved as a harmless word, to poke fun at someone. But here is the truth.

Retard is a derogatory term for a disabled person.

When people call things Retarded. They see it as a replacement for stupid.

I dont.

I see my disabled 6 year old sister in hospital with tubes in her nose and wonder why there is no respect for the disabled. My sister had had 30 hospital admissions by the age of 5.

Then to make things worse I see the ad for tropic thunder which bluntly makes fun of the disabled.

So do your part.

Dont say it.

FROM MY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER!!!

WRITTEN BY MY MUSIC TEACHER

The Year 10 Elective Music class have
this term been studying Jazz and next
term will be exploring the realms of
Music Theatre. As most of these boys
thought Music Theatre was the name of
an album made in the seventies, I decided
we needed outside help.

The Australian Institute of Music hosted
an event called 'Swing for Your Supper'.
It was a dazzling showcase of singing,
acting and of course the obligatory tap
dancing. Boy, were Year 10 impressed.
Really they were! You could have
knocked me down. 'So that's what music
theatre is!' exclaimed Brendan Young. It
was the light bulb moment every teacher
dreams of.

Memorable moments included the mad
dash back to central station when we
realised we had just five minutes before
our train departed; Jack being
photographed by some Japanese tourists
who could not believe that someone so
tall could be young enough to wear a
school uniform.

Special thanks must go to the year 10 boys

who surprised me with their

chivalry, manners and enthusiasm.

....................................................

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

On the weekend i decided to try a bit of charity work, not that im that sort of person who gets into that sort of stuff. But i thought why not? I haven't done anything like that lately, not since the beginning of the year when i did red cross door knock. So being the genius i was i decided a 100km walk for camp quality would be a good idea. And for the most part it was, even though i have never considered myself a 'fit' person. I still made the whole 100k. Not that it wasn't painful by the way, My feet nearly gave way many times during the walk and my thighs were killing me on the last leg of the walk (pun intended). But im still alive and okay (with dead legs). But i was thinking, as i was trudging my way to Bundeena in the rain with cars speeding past . How stupid it was that people are spending money to buy Wii Fit when people can just go for a run outside or take up a sport. Its all good if you cant make it outside for some outlandish reason, but it still annoys me.