Why is keynote speaker at Kincardine S.S. symposium Justin Trudeau?
May 6, 2011 by Sandy 4 Comments
Justin Trudeau -- Credit Google Images
I just found out today from a regular reader that Kincardine Secondary School (a high school in the Bluewater District School Board), will be having a huge symposium on June 9th and 10th, 2011. Sponsored by Bruce Power, Bruce Telecom, My FM 95.5, Holiday Inn Express and others, tickets will be $25.00 for the public and students from other schools within the Bluewater board.
It is not clear, however, whether or not Kincardine S.S. students have to buy tickets but I certainly hope not since they have no choice but to attend because regular classes will be cancelled. There will be sixteen workshops plus Liberal MP Justin Trudeau has been invited as the keynote speaker for the evening of June 9th, where 800 are expected to be in attendance.
While there will be several other guest speakers besides Trudeau, such as Lt. Col Dave Grossman and Jackson Katz, the publicity seems to mostly be about Trudeau. Why, I can’t imagine. The theme for the symposium is “Today’s Kids, Tomorrow’s Village” — based on the metaphor that it takes an entire community to raise a child.
So, I am not sure what expertise Justin Trudeau has on that topic. Yes, he is a nice fellow, of that I have no doubt. Yes, he is a progressive Liberal and yes, he is the father of two young children. But, other than having been a teacher for a couple of years and a parent, he is not an expert on any specific issues related to child rearing in today’s world.
However, obviously the fact that Trudeau is a “celebrity” is enough for him to be invited. Call me suspicious, but I can’t help wonder why that is so, particularly when the Kincardine Symposium is promoting him as “the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.” So what does a former Liberal PM have to do with the topic?
As if to prove the point that there is political motivation behind Trudeau’s invitation, I am hearing via my e-mail grapevine that a number of Ontario school boards are shopping around for Justin Trudeau to speak to their parent councils and/or students.
So, yes, I would definitely question the political motivation (of the McGuinty Liberal government) that may be behind this push.
However, regarding Grossman and Katz, I can understand why they were invited. These are two men who know their subjects and, although I have not heard either of them speak myself, I have heard they are dynamite.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a former military man, retiring as Professor of Military Science from Arkansas State University, having specialized in the psychology of killing and how soldiers have to be desensitized in order to kill. He has taken that knowledge and come up with a message that resonates with teens — about the repetitive violence in video games and how they can become desensitized to that violence through that type of exposure.
When you think of the violence of swarming and cyber bullying, his message is very much-needed. Similarly, Jackson Katz, a specialist in gender violence prevention and media literacy, tells kids that being violent and abusive is not masculine or “macho.”
So, the team of Grossman and Katz sounds ideal. How Trudeau fits into that threesome is a puzzlement to me, because remember, it was he who recently disagreed with calling ”honour killings” barbaric. Perhaps, however, since Trudeau tends to be generally upbeat and a gentle-man, he provides a good counter balance. I certainly hope that is the reason and not that educators are using Trudeau to brainwash the students with liberal progressive ideology.
Overall, however, I think this symposium is a very good idea. It will get young people and their parents talking about violence in video games and on television, and how that violence could affect or impact their behaviour in everyday life — a type of literacy that is now required for a community to raise a child (the alleged purpose for this symposium in the first place).
