IT SEEMS sad that the Boy Scouts of America are filing for bankruptcy protection because of a number of lawsuits relating to child abuse.
The reality, however, is that there is a need to protect children at all times and a number of organisations have failed to do so.
It is logical that most of these cases have involved organisations where children are there is number with priests, teachers and sports coaches frequently involved.
Most of the people in these groups are fine, upstanding individuals who have devoted time and effort to help others and the offenders are in the minority, but they are still there.
The failing with some organisation, especially the churches, in not monitoring their members and taking immediate responsibility to remove such individuals is shameful.
The churches’ approach, in Australia and probably most places, of moving offenders from parish to parish is shameful and probably criminal. This is by no means a complete list of offenders as in my local community it was actually the police officer who was the offender and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Like most decent citizens I cannot understand the offenders thinking but condemn it completely. We must call out all such cases and protect the children.
***
The cut and paste of life
Most obituaries and death notices look like cut and pastes of each other although today it is more true than ever.
A computer scientist Larry Tesler has died and yet to most he is an unknown, but his work is a part of every working day – he developed “cut and paste.”
This is the bane of schoolteachers who see so much of Wikipedia directly cut and pasted into students’ work, although generally without attribution.
The teachers themselves are hypocrites as most of their school reports are cut and pasted from a collection of wise, and proofread, words of wisdom and inspiration.
No office would survive today without his contribution and yet few would know of his work or passing.
Vale Larry Tesler and in honor of you some of this letter was cut and pasted.
***
Go straight to jail
In Australia, and almost certainly most countries, there have been stories of wage underpayment in mainly the food and hospitality industries.
A restaurant group underpaid their staff by $8 million dollars in total and today a supermarket chain admitted an underpayment of $20 million. Both have or will back pay the lost earnings.
There are many reasons underpayments could happen and yet there is no equivalent massive overpayments, although people may be slower to report any such cases.
People deserve to be paid for their work and paid fully including for overtime. It has been suggested that this ‘theft’ would be a criminal offense and jailable.
Next time you go to a restaurant, check that the smiling people serving you are being fully paid and if there is any doubt suggest to the owner that you are only going to pay part of the cost.
Eat well, pay well. (dfitzger@melbpc.org.au/PN)
