Today, my 7 year old came home from school whereby he told me all about Daniel Morcombe and what happened to him. Apparently he was even shown pictures even of Daniels skeleton. I'm not sure how much detail they went into, or even why .... but he seems to know the general gist of the case.

He is now terrified about some nutter coming in and getting him. I've spent the majority of the afternoon trying to explain to him that these things are a rare occurance, that he is safe, that mummy and daddy will protect him etc etc. But when I tried to send him upstairs to grab a jumper, he was terrified that some bad man was waiting for him and refused to go up unless I accompanied him. He's not normally like this. Now he's even talking about wanting to sleep in my bed ... something he hasn't done since he was 12 months old.

I've always avoided stories of bogey men etc because I didn't want him growing up to be afraid. I wanted him to be confident, but still make smart choices.

  I've been trying to work out why they had this discussion, and for the life of me can't work out why. Sure, they have lessons about stranger danger ... but they don't need to go into details about real life crimes or frighten the crap out of kids to make that point. I'm of the opinion that I am going to go to his school on Monday morning and raise hell.


My question, does anyone think it's appropriate that schools discuss murder cases with 7 year olds? Or can anyone think of a good reason why a 7 year old even needs to know about it?

Was it the school or was it other kids? It is not exactly clear.

If it was the school, I would definitely complain. If it was the kids, I would still raise the issue.

I'm sure Aussie will love this one

Gordon wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 7:46pm:


he hasn't asked me that one yet .....

lee wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 7:49pm:


it was the school.

Aussie wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 7:55pm:


I'm not even sure if that was why they did it ... apparently they've been asked to wear a red shirt on the 28th ... I hope that's not the only reason the kids were put through this

Lord Herbert wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 8:02pm:


thanks

I reckon the Sunshine Coast should be renamed Morcombe town and every public meeting's should begin with a tribute to them. The whole area should ceceed from Australia and the new currency would be the Morcombe. Anyone who speaks Ill of a Morcombe would be deported to Tasmania

Why do you think soldiers come home and suffer PTSD? not conditioned to the battlefield

Let your son learn everything about the real world and become conditioned to it. The last thing you want is a wimp on your hands

Bias_2012 wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 8:43pm:


I plan to, but 7 years of age is just to young for that sort of crap .... their are concepts he has to juggle with that he is simply incapable of understanding at the age of 7. At 7 the world is black and white.

John Smith wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 8:49pm:


Aussie thinks getting over a murdered child takes the same time as to air out a car after someone drops a bad vindaloo fart.

Hope he doesn't have to walk a mile......

Aussie wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 8:54pm:



spray doofus ...typo

John Smith wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 8:55pm:


"No sh1t, Sherlock."

Oh what a terrible cause.


The Foundation's key role in the community is the education of all children about their personal safety. By directly assisting educators and parents through the funding and development of child safety educational resources as well as assisting young victims of crime, the Foundation continues to empower all Australians to make their local communities safer places for all children.

John Smith wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 9:08pm:


It's the schools role to check anything from outside the ciriculum.  Buck stops with them.

Gordon wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 9:09pm:



you can bet I'll remind them of that come Monday morning

John Smith wrote on Oct 21^st, 2016 at 7:41pm:


Somehow, I don't think that this really happened. But it does raise a point about appropriateness if it is true. When I was 10 years old, I was exposed to this silly M-rated movie called "Critters 2". In today's horror terms, I thought the movie was quite tame. But, as a 10-year-old, I was horrified by the explicit violence of people getting killed by alien creatures at apparent random.

To the extent that I was frightened of the likelihood that something horrific would happen to myself and family. It took a good 2 years to overcome the post-traumatic stress effects. I suppose, in a way, it was good that I was exposed to some kind of horror. It helped in maturing me to the horrors that I could face in, what was then, my future.

I'm in two minds about this. Since being exposed to a real situation is different to entertainment media, you would need to treat this seriously with some considerable damage control. I agree that you would need to raise this with the school about age appropriateness of a murder detail. The next thing you need to talk about is to raise the issue with the child about what happened, without going too far into detail. Tell him what he wants to know. He won't ask too much information at his age. After some time, if he still has doubts about his place in the world, you may need to encourage him to "get over it" in some way.

I can't understand how this would have been something that a 7-year-old would be shown by a teacher. Perhaps an older school child trying to look tough among the younger students. Or an article he was shown on a website.

Maybe the school thought it was a good way of warning kids to be careful and not accept lifts etc.  One of those brain-farts that pervade the 'education' system these days.... like teaching tots about gay-ness and trans-gender garbage (as if a 15 yo can actually work out they need to chop bits of their anatomy and 'become' someone of the opposite sex) and teaching kids about 'men's privilege in society', and so forth.

Really makes you wonder, that......

I guess that's what happens to the schools following The Invasion of The Snatch Embodiers.

**snatch = female reproductive organ, which most oldies will know.... now you know....... as in "doc, I've been sleeping in snatches all night .. I'm worn out".....

UnSubRocky wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2016 at 12:09am:



and that is my dilemma .. I can't see why either. I don't think it was an older kid because they wouldn't have told him to wear a red shirt on the 28th. Apparently he was supposed to bring a note home but he lost it .

John Smith wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2016 at 8:24am:


Take your concerns up with the school John. As you say, kids of that age see the world in black and white.

While the consequences in the case of your boy were (I would expect) unintended, the school should be made aware of them. You may well be one of several parents whose child reacted similarly.

Aussie wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 1:21pm:



something came up and I couldn't get out there this morning. You need to learn patience.


I went to speak to them this arvo instead. I'm satisfied the school didn't go into any details they shouldn't have. Still don't know where he saw a photo of a skeleton but I'm satisfied it wasn't on any materials the school gave him. I'm avoiding the topic with him as he seems to have gotten over it and I don't wish to drag it all up with him again


Gordon wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 1:45pm:



not quite ...

John Smith wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 3:41pm:
So it never happened. thought so.

rhino wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 4:28pm:



what never happened? Did they explain what happened to Daniel? yes, that did happen.

Gordon wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 4:39pm:


there was no set 'presentation ' ... they gave the kids a little pamphlet about wearing red for Daniel day, then fielded questions from the kids.

John Smith wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 4:28pm:


I've been a tad 'sneaky lawyerish' with this.  There is no photo of Daniel Morcombe's skeleton.  A full skeleton was never found.  Just some random bones which were his.

Something scared the beejeezuz out of your Son.  What was it?

Gordon wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 5:09pm:



this is all they got or saw.

John Smith wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 6:17pm:


Looks OK to me, and it probably was other kids adding extra info that freaked out your son.

I remember a when I was a kid we got a very general stranger danger talk and a kid told us if you go into a public dunny in the city,  an old guy will cut your dick off....still messes with my head lol.

I bet old mate Petrocelli will keep banging on about it trying to blame the Morcombes, what a Morcombophobe.

Aussie wrote on Oct 24^th, 2016 at 7:50pm:


it was his teacher, and no, not much said. She explained in very general terms that Daniel missed a bus and got into a car with a stranger, and as a result was killed. Then explained that is why they should NEVER get into a car with a stranger. As far as I am concerned, that's a good lesson for kids.

All the rest I can only attribute to his little mates talking.

I know you were hoping for more ammunition to use in your crusade against the Morcombes Aussie, but that's all it was.