Dear Parents & Friends,
Like many, I found the tragic news of the death of Anne Marie Smith was quite confronting. In today’s world of demanding accountability how can a vulnerable person be left to perish in such degrading circumstances? This shocking incident started me thinking about how much our society has changed. How many years ago we used to visit each other in our homes for a ‘cuppa’ and now, today we meet in coffee shops and cafes. We don’t just call anymore, but we text to ask permission to call on a mobile.
This week memories of my childhood days came flooding back when we used to play cricket in the street outside our house. Armed with well-worn willow, fruit box for stumps and coming apart at the seams ball, we would play on the bitumen, imagining we were test bowlers and batsmen of the day. We would play with the neighbours’ kids and more often than not, end up at someone else’s home for lunch or dinner. Our parents never seemed to mind if there were extra mouths to feed.
These memories of our neighbourhood community are no doubt replicated all over Australia in past years but became more poignant this week when I read about Anne Marie Smith’s passing. The fifty-four-year-old woman who lived in Adelaide’s Eastern suburb died from severe septic shock and malnutrition. Police say she had been stuck in a cane chair for 24 hours a day for more than a year. One can only wonder what it would be like to have been this woman who apparently had little contact with neighbours and relied on her ‘carer’ for all her needs.
The unnoticed existence of Anne Marie Smith is a reminder call and a worrying sign about the nature of the suburban communities in which we now live. In recent times in my own street, long established homes are being demolished and replaced by double-storey townhouses that are designed so the front windows of past days have been replaced by a roller-door garage front and iron gates. Our homes and our schools have become fortresses and the price is that we become unaware of those who constitute our neighbours.
Not everything from the past was wonderful. But a characteristic and strongly positive feature was the sense that people knew and cared for the well-being of those nearby. Today our Church community often reminds us that we are called to be ‘community for the world’. At Star of the Sea we do an amazing job teaching our children to be compassionate for others and to care for the vulnerable. The recent St Vinnies drive is just one example of students, parents and teachers working together to help those who help others. St Vinnies, Meals on Wheels, the Salvo’s, Anglicare and even our own Star Outreach Kitchen are all about caring for others and making sure no one is left alone or without. We need to work with our young people and constantly remind them that their education is not just for themselves, but also for others.
Kiss and Drop
Recently a person asked me what I won’t miss about school when I retire. My response was, ‘after school traffic duty’ and the ‘Kiss and Drop’. I remind parents and grandparents that the two ‘Kiss and Drop’ zones on Military Road and Seaview Road are as they are aptly named ‘Kiss and Drop’ with the emphasis on the ‘drop’.
Please be aware of parents who are waiting in line to drop and collect their children. The longer you take the more congested the line becomes and this causes safety issues. It would be most helpful if the children could be prepped and ready to go as soon as you stop at the Kiss and Drop zone.
This week parents may have noticed the City of Charles Sturt traffic inspector driving around the school in his silver SUV with his flashing lights. He informed me that Star of the Sea was one of two of the worst offending and problematic schools in the council. Not a good record to have! He informed me that he has been issuing warnings and that as of next week beginning Monday 1 June, he will be issuing expiation notices to drivers who queue on the yellow lines and exceed waiting limits in no parking zones.
Enjoy the weekend ahead
Joe De Tullio
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