No way home
The story by Diane Foley, the mother of journalist James Foley, was profoundly moving [February 17]. After almost two long years of hoping her son would be released after being kidnapped in Syria by a militia, receiving that phone call that he had been murdered by ISIS would be unimaginable for any parent. Like so many brave journalists across the world today reporting from war zones, James Foley regularly put his life on the line in the name of reporting without fear or favour. At a time when the truth is becoming a casualty to propaganda by authoritarian governments and religious extremists, Foley was a hero in every sense of the word.
Jason Carpenter
Penrith, NSW
Two of Us
Thank you for the beautiful and astonishing story of Phan Giang Sang, 90, and his wife, Kim Châu, 85 [February 17]. What an inspiration. I am hoping that the photo catches the eye of Archibald contestants; both Châu and Sang have remarkable faces.
Jill Maneschi,
Mosman, NSW
I loved this Two of Us. I especially liked Châu’s sense of humour. She doesn’t think they argue all the time: “It’s just that my husband can take a long time to agree with me”! It is wonderful that their children have been so successful here in Australia.
Susan Munday
Bentleigh East, Vic
Congratulations on the intriguing story. What an inspiring couple and tale. Unique.
Name and address supplied
The Empty Plate
I’ve been working as a registered nurse in general practice for the past 28 years alongside patients who are struggling with eating choices, body size, obesity and general poor health related to lifestyle. There are so many diets with rules and regulations – it is no wonder we are, as a nation, becoming more overweight or obese and developing more chronic conditions. [Terry Durack’s column] was without judgment and the simple phrase of “sometimes, always, and never” is an easy one. This concept allows for a more balanced approach to eating rather than excluding whole food groups. After all, life is all about balance.
Leilani Donovan
Berry, NSW
Modern Guru
Chopsticks deployed to transfer morsels of food from shared plates onto the diner’s bowl risk implanting delicious mounds of communal food with the transgressor’s bug-infested saliva and sputum blobs [February 10]. The flavoursome slurps and sucks on the end of your chopsticks will expose your dining companions to your exotic-sounding brand of lip, tongue and oral cavity mucous membrane cross-infection. I certainly do not want to meet the acquaintance of Mrs Salmonella, Mr Norovirus and Lady Listeria.
Dr Joseph Ting
Carina, Qld
ONLINE COMMENTS
‘What’s bubbling underneath’: Showing teen boys how to master emotion and empathy
As a parent to three sons and someone who has worked with teenagers, my experience is that young men and boys need to feel valued and “heard”. This may sound obvious, but building rapport and trust is not something that happens in a single session. I’ve had a 17-year-old cry when told I was moving on to another position where I would no longer be working with him. I had become “his” adult, the person he relied on. Teens can come from loving, supportive families and still feel invisible. Those who aren’t so lucky in their family background are instinctively distrustful. It’s a complex issue. I don’t necessarily endorse the “Man Cave” approach — as the article touches on, it’s still “blokey” and potentially exclusionary merely by the name — but any progress in talking about supporting the emotional development of boys and men is valuable to society as a whole. Those sensitive boys need our support to become loving, considerate men, rather than having their softness squashed by a culture that lauds “alpha” males. Marlowe
We need to band together as a society and pick people up, not put them down. Recently, we heard of another suicide in our community, of a 17-year-old boy starting his HSC year. The news was overwhelming. We need to save our boys and thank you, Hunter [Johnson], for doing this and to the many others trying to just do their bit day by day. Every kind word counts. It takes a village folks so hang in there and try to live well. Fight the good fight. SecretSquirrel
I was relentlessly bullied and excluded in high school. I too, went to an elite private school. I’ve never forgiven those who did this to me. They stunted me emotionally for many years and badly damaged my confidence. Those are years I’ll never get back. They were horrible, arrogant, elitist teenagers and I suspect not much has changed as they grew older. Chris Sherlock
Good that [Hunter Johnson] is trying to make a difference now, but I hope he reflects on all the lives he impacted with his behaviour before his enlightenment. Bob Mcclung
Interesting article highlighting the work of this program. While I can see this program is filled with good intentions – I would question the long-term impact of a one-off intervention. It’s concerning that the Monash University evaluation of this program found that attitudinal and knowledge shifts don’t necessarily translate into behavioural change. Good intentions alone, without evidence of long-term behavioural change, is not enough. tuppence
I am surprised society doesn’t treat school bullying as seriously as other assaults (physically and/or mentally). Bullying has a lasting effect on a child. Pizzaz
Being a teen boy in our society is an unenviable place to be. First off, you are told you have problems – you can’t relate to people, you can’t express emotions properly etc. Then you try to express emotion, and you’re told to pipe down because you are privileged and have things better than women and minorities. Then you get these people who come in, tell you what to do and leave. But who is doing the ongoing mentorship, because there’s a good chance you live with a single mum and the vast majority of your teachers are female. I think a good start might not be pigeonholing boys as alphas and betas etc but have an ongoing relationship that you want to be there, not paid to be there. Barry
These young males are learning to express their emotions constructively but only to other males. There ought to be females in the groups so that boys and girls can learn to live together, explain how they feel and get along. The idea that males have to learn such things of secret man-caves will only reinforce the alienation of the genders from each other. Richard Parker
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