Questions for discussion

Supermarket giants

Smoking danger

Kid geologist

EPISODE 26

15TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Dugongs

Refugee tennis

Focus Questions

What’s the harm?

EPISODE 26

15TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Learning Area

Health and

Physical Education

Key learning

Students will

develop a deeper

understanding of

the issues related

to smoking.

Reflection

Related Research Links

Focus Questions

Dugong tales

EPISODE 26

15TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Learning Area

English

Key learning

Students will

develop and

publish a short

story about

dugongs.

Further investigations

Related Research Links

BtN: Episode 25 Transcripts 15/09/09

On this week's Behind the News:

Is your shopping centre being taken over by giants?

The kids being targeted by smoking companies.

And the girl who won a dream ride to understand the centre of

the earth.

Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News.

Also on the show today – meet the creatures behind the mermaid

legends.

But first let’s bring you up to date with the latest news.

The Wire

Students across the country have helped launch a computer safety

programme.

The aim is to warn kids of the dangers on-line - and coincides with

national child protection week.

The program is a virtual ‘whodunnit’ where they have to save a friend

from an online stranger .

STUDENT: We don't know - Well we've got to figure out who's trying

to contact us on the phone cause we don't know who this 'Kel' guy is.

After ten minutes they were hooked.

STUDENT: We got a new one. If you don't understand a question

just ask them and they'll help you out - ooh, we've got a new one...

oop, sorry.

And the message is sinking in.

STUDENT: Don’t trust anyone. Don't trust anyone cause you might,

you know, don't trust anyone that you just met on the computer, or

things like that.

A new scenario involving cyber bullying may be launched next year.

**********

Last week we told you about kids wanting to sail solo around the

world. This week there was a dramatic development to the story.

Jessica Watson the 16 year old Aussie we met had an accident just as

she was sailing to Sydney to start her round the world attempt.

She had to return home to Mooloolaba after her yacht collided with a

cargo ship.

She said she was below decks, and didn't see the 225 metre ship.

JESSICA: "I go it's all right. I'm ok. But I've just lost half my mast."

Jessica will have her boat repaired but will still try for the record.

Her parents had been criticised for allowing their daughter to

undertake the journey.

Poll

Really highlights the dangers of the trip, doesn't it? Although by all

reports she handled the situation pretty well.

To get your thoughts on it all, we'll make that our poll this week.

The question is “Should kids be allowed to sail solo around the

world?"

If you want to vote, go to our website.

Poll Results

And we had a very interesting result to last week's vote.

The question was : 'Should junk food ads be banned in kids' TV?'

48 per cent said yes - 52 per cent said no!

Absolutely borderline there - and here are some of your reasons...

Connor: Food ads are so yum why should we ban them?

Petzza : I think it’s revolting.

Bailey : I think no ads should be on unless they are censored because

we are now the world's fattest country.

Chriso: It doesn't matter what the ads tell the kids, it's all up to the

parents.

Snurgen: I think they should ban it during kids' shows because kids

get more influenced than adults.

Claire: I believe the real contributors to obesity are video games and

watching too much TV. Why ban the ads?

Shannon: There should be ads just at night time when the children

are in bed

Sharni: I reckon we should be allowed to watch food ads because it's

our choice what we want to do.

Presenter: And there’s still time to have your say on our website.

Supermarket Giants

Reporter: Catherine Ellis

INTRO: OK it's time for our first feature.

Think about all the food your family eats - does it come from a

supermarket? If so, which one?

If you go around your classroom, you would most likely not hear too

many different answers.

That's because there's a couple of giants out there that some people

think are a bit too hungry!

Here's Catherine to explain.

CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: It's hard to believe that not all that

long ago supermarkets didn't exist!

There were individually owned little grocery stores where customers

read out what they wanted, while assistants fetched each item,

measured it out and packaged it up.

It was only about 80 years ago that the first supermarkets were born.

Retailers realised that by selling in bulk, they could cut their prices

and customers would come running!

But gradually over the years, as the little guys couldn't compete

anymore, they got knocked out of the market and the big guys

continued to grow.

Now the giants don't just own supermarkets.

They've bought up all sorts of stuff; including petrol stations, liquor

stores, hotels and gaming businesses, insurance, electronics and

department stores!

When it comes to liquor stores they own almost half the market!

Same goes for petrol.

As for Hotels and Gaming, Woolworths is the biggest operator in

Australia.

Did you know Woolworths own Big W and the Coles people own

Target and Kmart, and together they control more than 60 per cent of

the department store market!

Guess who owns Bunnings? The Coles people do!

And now Woolworths wants to buy into the Hardware and Home

Improvement markets too. It's a huge industry worth $36 billion

dollars!

They're looking to buy up stores and locations across the country and

it's got a lot of people worried.

Some people say small operators will be squeezed out.

And that's a worry because the less competition there is the more

power the big guys have to raise prices.

But the big businesses disagree.

They say it allows them to sell stuff cheaper - so shoppers benefit.

There is a government group in charge of all this.

It's called the A-triple-C, which stands for Australian Competition and

Consumer Commission. It's there to make stuff fair for customers and

business.

They have to do lots of research before they give permission to

companies like Woolworths to enter a new market, but with

Woolworths latest push into the Hardware and Home Improvement

industry - some people say the ACCC is not being tough enough.

And they're calling for it to do more to stop the giants taking over.

There's a lot of debate about whether shoppers have benefited from

cheaper prices or not.

But there's no debating the fact that the independently owned and

local stores are fast becoming a thing of the past.

Presenter: OK, next we’re going to talk about another big debate –

smoking. But we’ll start off with a quiz.

Quiz 1

When was tobacco advertising banned at all Australian sporting

events?

1. 1996

2. 2001

3. 2006

Answer: 2006

Smoking Danger

Reporter: Nathan Bazley

INTRO: Yep, really not that long ago!

In Australia now, you'd have to say the dangers of smoking are well

known and there are pretty tight restrictions on how cigarettes are

marketed.

But not everywhere in the world is like here. In Indonesia, there are

very few rules, and the rules that are there are pretty much ignored.

It's led to many kids taking up the habit, so we thought we'd have a

closer look at the problem.

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: It's Saturday night and for the

young people of Jakarta, Indonesia, that means party time.

This is a big music festival, but you'll notice signs for something called

'LA Lights' everywhere.

And I mean everywhere!

That's a brand of cigarettes in Indonesia and tonight they are being

pushed on kids as they enjoy the show.

Free lighters and smokes are handed out all night. The cost of the

event itself was even covered by the brand.

In fact, in this town, it's hard to find a concert or sporting event NOT

sponsored by tobacco companies.

It's all trying to convince the kids of Indonesia that smoking is cool.

But far from that image, Indonesia is now finding itself dying in a

cloud of smoke.

Indonesia is a country just to the north of Australia. But while the two

countries are very close, their rules on smoking are miles apart.

NATHAN: Here we are very strict. People can't smoke inside most

public places, cigarette advertising is banned, it's against the law to

buy smokes under 18 and tobacco is taxed heavily to make smoking

expensive. We also have huge education campaigns warning of the

health risks.

But the story in Indonesia couldn't be more different.

There are essentially no restrictions on where and when you can light

up.

And anyone can buy and smoke cigarettes, even kids your age!

Very few people here know about the dangers of smoking either.

Most have just never been told about it.

To make matters worse the habit is very affordable because of the low

taxes on cigarettes.

In Australia a pack usually costs over ten bucks. In Indonesia they can

be less than a dollar.

All of these factors add up to one huge problem.

But while it's easy to point the finger at Indonesia, you might not

realise that Australia was much the same 'til around thirty-five years

ago.

In those days cigarette advertising was everywhere and you could

smoke pretty much anywhere.

Since then the government and health groups have worked hard to

cut advertising, educate people and limit where you can light up.

Indonesia is still a long way from that.

Hundreds of billions of cigarettes are sold there each year.

More and more young people are buying them and getting hooked,

which is a goldmine for tobacco companies.

But there is a terrible downside to all this cash - and it can be seen in

Indonesia's hospitals.

400,000 people will die from smoking related illnesses within a year.

It's a scary number, but one Indonesia seems to be ignoring for now.

And they aren't the only country taking that approach.

But others, including Australia, are fully aware of the deadly realities

of this habit and are trying to stop people smoking anyway they can.

Because they know it's only a matter of time until the true costs really

hit home.

Kid Geologist

Reporter: Sarah Larsen

INTRO: Have you ever wanted to fly in a helicopter or get inside a

submarine?

Well some lucky kids have done just that. It's all part of an idea to

show kids that their hobbies can lead to amazing careers in science.

But not enough kids are thinking about those jobs, and as Sarah

discovered, there's a lot more to it than lab coats and test tubes.

SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: How's this for work experience?

Emma's in year 9, and she won a competition giving kids a chance to

experience the best of their favourite science subject so she's being

flown around in a chopper, checking out mountains, mines, coastlines

and more! Her guide is Greg Swain: Exploration Geologist.

GREG: I always liked exploring around the rocks and looking around

the caves. I always had a keen sense of adventure.

Greg's part of a program designed to show kids just how diverse and

exciting jobs in science can be.

GREG: I found geology answered some of the questions I had about

how the world is.

REPORTER: You see, while some kids love maths and science, others

don't! There aren't enough kids studying it and that's a real problem

because there are thousands of very cool jobs out there in need of

young scientific minds.

The South Australian Government set out to show kids there's more

to it than numbers and lab coats. It recruited everyone from video

game designers to Antarctic explorers to give kids a day of ultimate

work experience in their favourite scientific fields.

EMMA: Well first I heard of it in the school bulletin and I thought it

sounded interesting and you only live once so I though why not and

because it had something to do with geology I was interested in it and

I wanted to find out more and learn more.

GREG: Geology is basically studying how the earth works - how the

earth formed.

Under our feet there's a lot more going on that you might think.

GREG: At the moment we're standing on a thin layer of crust, like an

orange peel on the outside of an orange so we've got a really thin layer

which is solid and everything else is liquid.

REPORTER: You might wonder what a helicopter has to do with

geology - well sometimes the best way to see what going on under the

ground is from the sky.

Geos take to the sky with special equipment that can measure

variations in things like gravity and magnetism. What they're looking

for are valuable deposits of stuff gold and copper.

REPORTER: It’s all a bit like a detective story. They look at clues like

the shape of the hills, patterns in the rock and even stones on the

ground to figure out what precious minerals might be nearby.

This is the sort of stuff that got Emma hooked on Geology

EMMA: It's not just rocks and everything - although that's the main

part of it - it's just how everything is and the world.

Getting her hands dirty has made Emma even more interested in

science. And she reckons if more kids realised what was out there,

they'd be more willing to give it a go.

Presenter: Pretty good perk of the job – and just another reason to

get into the sciences! Still on a geological theme, time for another

quiz.

Quiz 2

Which one of these metals is the most valuable?

1. Gold

2. Platinum

3. Silver

The answer is – Platinum.

At the moment Platinum costs around one third more than gold and

about 80 times more than silver. Better get myself a shovel.

Dugongs

Reporter: Catherine Ellis

INTRO: We've all seen the movie or heard about mermaids. Now of

course they don't exist - but where on earth did the idea come from?

It's believed to have originated from tales of a mysterious sea

creature called the Dugong!

But despite the stories, this giant sea mammal is now in trouble.

Catherine discovered a group of people that once hunted them - is

now helping to save them!

CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: What grows up to 500 kilograms

and grazes on grass?

A 'sea cow'!

Although officially these guys are called 'Dugongs'.

They munch on tonnes of seaweed - because unlike seals and dolphins

which hunt for fish - these guys are herbivorous!

They're found in shallow, calm waters off northern Australia - from

Shark Bay in Western Australia around to the border of Queensland

and New South Wales.

There's believed to be about 80-thousand of them within Oz with

about 12-thousand in the Great Barrier Reef.

And how big do you reckon Dugongs can grow in length? They can

grow up to three metres which is almost two of me!

The Dugongs spend their entire lives at sea, but they do come to the

surface to take large gulps of air.

And some people reckon the female Dugongs can look a bit human-

like when they do that and that's believed to be what led lonely

fisherman many years ago to tell tales of mermaids - and they became

the stories you still see in movies

But now the Dugong is showing signs of becoming extinct.

They're hunted by sharks, crocs and killer whales, but their biggest

threat is humans.

The dugongs get trapped in fishing and shark nets, they're hit and

killed by boats and their seagrass meadows are decreasing because of

pollution from industry and agriculture.

Dugongs have played an important part in the traditions and culture

of Indigenous Australians, who've hunted them for centuries.

But now a group is chasing them for a very different reason.

Just north of Broome in WA, these Aboriginal rangers are tagging

dugongs and turtles with satellite tracking devices and are watching

their movements on the internet.

They're worried about numbers and want to find out more about the

population here.

They also want to learn more about what the mammals get up to in

the wild to see exactly what impact humans are having on them.

Some Indigenous leaders are calling for a total ban on hunting

dugongs.

They say it wasn't so bad in the past because spears limited the

amount people could catch, but with speed boats and new gadgets

dugongs can be caught in bigger numbers.

They also say some Indigenous Australians are catching them to sell

their meat illegally.

Currently dugongs are on the Aussie endangered species list, but

these guys in WA, and other researchers around Oz, hope by learning

more about the mysterious creatures, they'll be able protect them

from extinction.

Presenter: I’m not sure how good those sailors’ eyes must have been

to mistake them for people.

Anyway, we know mermaids aren’t real, so for our last quiz today,

we’ll bust some other myths.

Quiz 3

Which of these birds really lived?

1. Griffin

2. Dodo

3. Phoenix

Answer: Dodo

It was a flightless bird standing about a metre tall, but it's been extinct

for about 300 years. The phoenix and griffin came from ancient Greek

stories, but you probably know them from Harry Potter

History lesson over - time to check out some sport with Sarah.

The Score

Jockeys have gone on strike over new rules to limit how many times

they can whip their horses. The rules mean a horse can only be struck

18 times during a race but the jockeys are angry because they reckon

whips aren't cruel and they need to use them to control the horses.

*************

Bernard Tomic has become the first Aussie to win the US Open's Boys

Junior title in 25 years. The 16-year old knocked off American Chase

Buchanan. It's Tomic's second grand slam win- last year he became

the youngest player to win a Junior Title at the Australian Open.

*************

But it wasn't such a good US Open for Serena Williams. She was foot-

faulted and went berserk - verbally abusing and threatening a

lineswoman. Williams was handed a point penalty which meant

Belgian Kim Clijsters took the match but the controversy didn't finish

there. Williams was fined 10 thousand US dollars and many want her

suspended from the game.

Presenter: Do you reckon she should be suspended? And what

about using whips in horse racing? Tell us what you think in the guest

book.

Refugee Tennis

Reporter: Nathan Bazley

INTRO: Now let's look at a very positive tennis story. Imagine

moving to a completely different country - a different language,

different customs and different schools. How would you make

friends?

Well there are a few programs out there designed to help, and one

we're going to look at today uses racquets to help kids hit their way

into a new life.

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Around Australia, thousands of kids

get involved in tennis lessons each week, but this group is a little

different to most.

Each Sunday they come here to have a hit, under the expert tutelage

of Virgil and his apprentice Aruf.

JUSTINE: I enjoy tennis because I get to do more running and

because I like to be challenged and the high shots are pretty cool as

well.

But the kids here are learning much more than a great overhead

smash.

They're learning to make friends of all different cultures and have a

whole lot of fun!

The story of how this multicultural tennis academy came to be starts

with Aruf around four years ago when he was 14, as he took a stroll

down the beach and happened upon some tennis courts.

ARUF AHMADI: There's some people that were playing tennis, and I

just look at them for half an hour and decided I like it.

But it wasn't quite that easy. Aruf is from Afghanistan, a country you

would have heard a lot about in the news.

Soldiers from Australia, American and many other countries are there

right now fighting a war against the Taliban, who used to control the

place.

In the past they used to hurt and even kill the ethnic group Aruf

belongs to, so his family escaped to Australia.

But he'd never even seen a game of tennis, let alone know its rules.

VIRGIL GONCALVES: One day, he'd actually broken a few strings,

and his mum - when he took the racquet home, his mum saw that the

strings were broken and she actually threw the racquet away because

she thought it was irrepairable.

ARUF AHMADI: And then next day, again, I said, "Where's my tennis

racquet?," and she's like, "What's that? Tennis racquet?" There is the

thing which you call tennis racquet, you play tennis with it. And then I

explained a description, and she's like, "Ah, I think I just throw it in

the bin."

It wasn't the best start, but already Aruf is showing amazing talent.

He's now the best junior player the club has and he and his coach

Virgil, have decided to pass on their knowledge to more kids from

other countries.

Maketh and Achok are from Sudan and are pretty competitive.

MAKETH: But I'm better in serving - I'm better than all of them.

ACHOK: You're not, actually.

MAKETH: No, I am.

ACHOK: No you're not.

They, just like most of the kids here, love the program because if helps

them find friends here in their new home, making it a smash hit, both

on and off the court, though these guys might not even make it back

out to play.

Closer

I get the feeling that argument might go on for a while! There's more

of those two on our website.

That's it for today, catch you next time!