Category: reflection

Each year at our school we are offered the flu vaccine and each year I reject it. My thinking is that the flu is not deadly, if I get it, I will survive. It’s not that I am against vaccination. I have been vaccinated against a lot of things that I genuinely don’t want, such as Hep B and polio and other childhood things, probably including tetanus. I don’t like needles (who does?).

I have been sick for the past few days with a cold that could possibly be the flu. I have had an aching body, runny nose etc and just haven’t felt too steady. I have taken some bed rest and the occasional paracetamol (which I normally rarely take) and I am beginning to feel much better. In fact I’m confident I will return to work tomorrow and all will be well.

Lot’s of people have asked me why I didn’t get the flu vaccine. I am not really old, the flu is not going to kill me. I have seen people get the flu vaccine and still get the flu, sometimes shortly after the vaccine. I just don’t beleive in it. I have no medical knowledge or qualification to say this, but I just don’t believe in it.

On the Australian Government health site about the flu vaccine, it says

“Most healthy adults recover from influenza within a few days but some people, especially those aged 65 and over, and those with certain chronic illnesses like heart or lung disease, can develop complications. These can include pneumonia or heart failure, which can be fatal. “

I am not over 65 and I don’t have those mentioned diseases. So there you go!

Stalker by Hazel Edwards

May 2, 2007

johblogs

reflection 1 Comment

I was amazed to read on the blurb of this book that Hazel Edwards has written 131 books. That is a lot of books. I am sure I have probably read some of them, I just don’t remember them. Hazel’s Wikipedia entry says she has written 161. That is very productive. She also attended Traralgon High School for a part of her education according to Wikipedia.

Stalker was a light read. It gives an insight into the way radio works. It’s about a young volunteer radio announcer who receives a lot of unwelcome attention that ends in a conviction for the stalker. It’s an interesting topic in view of the information many put on the Internet now. How easy would it be for someone to collect enough information about a person to intimidate them?

I recently showed an Internet safety video to my students. The year 7’s took it more to heart than the year 9’s, who seemed to think they knew all there was to know about this sort of thing.

I saw ‘Everyone Knows Your Name’ on YouTube today. Whilst I don’t want people to live in fear of the Internet, I guess it’s important for all of us to think before we post, for lots of reasons. A good reminder.