Opposition to war toys ‘rising’

Press, 25 September 1989, Page 16

Opposition to war toys ‘rising’

A Christchurch mother and journalist, Carolyn Davies, has become the national co-ordinator for the anti-war toys group, Play For Life. Until last month, the group was headed by Vivien Eyers, of Wanganui, who founded Play For Life four years ago. Many young parents support Play For Life, even though they may be too busy parenting to give active support to the group’s aims, says Carolyn. “When we speak to groups or run Workshops it’s clear there’s a groundswell of opinion against war toys. There’s been a massive increase in the number of waroriented games for sale in the past four or five years, and increasing demands through media advertising to buy them. “We encourage parents to talk to their children about how they feel about war toys and to suggest alternative games,” says Carolyn. Play For Life’s next monthly meeting will be on Tuesday, October 10, at the Friends’ Meeting House, 329 Manchester Street, starting at 7.30 p.m. All interested in joining the group and sharing ideas for local and national action or promoting peaceful play are invited to attend. For more information phone Carolyn or Linda on 524-518 or 523-830.

PRYDE conference Empowering Parents towards the Early Prevention of Drug Abuse in

their children will be the theme of PRYDE’s firstever South Island conference, over the week-end of October 14 and 15. PRYDE stands for Parents Reaching Youth ; Through Drug Education. It is a national network of parent support groups, called Parent Peer

Groups, working towards a drug-free environment for youth. The groups started in 1986 and have spread throughout the country, including to schools. They share information about social trends affecting young people and help parents communicate with their children.

The keynote speakers at the conference will be Dr Robert Crawford, the medical superintendent of Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer and Barry Maisters, the principal of Riccarton High School. Topics over the two days will include the G.P.’s role, family roles, communicating your, message effectively to groups and communication between parents and teenagers. A highlight will be two performances by the re-cently-formed multi-cul-tural group Youth to Youth, whose message is, “It’s Cool to be Drug Free.” The conference will be held at St Thomas’ College in Upper Riccarton. Registrations must be in by September 30. Write to PRYDE’s office at P.O. Box 32, Lyttelton or phone 28-7309.

Clean, green Canterbury? How clean and green can Canterbury be? A panel of environ-mentally-involved people will discuss the management of Canterbury’s natural resources at a function this Thursday, September 28. Hazardous waste management, ground water pollution, soil and water conservation, and land and air pollution will all

be looked at. Dij Lucas, a landscape planner, Diana Shand, a marketing consultant, Dr Colin Meurk, a plant ecologist, catchment board member and the founder of an urban landscape group, and Dr Neil Cherry, an agricultural meteorologist, will all offer their views. The evening has been organised by the Canterbury Organic Producers, a group of farmers and horticulturists who grow organic food professionally. By the end of this year there will be some 50 certified organic farmers in Canterbury, working a total area of 6000 hectares. Come to the Cranmer Centre, Cranmer Square, at 7.30 p.m. For more information phone Tony Mallard at , 858-226 or Anna Allan at 328-484. Working people’s issues

Three seminars on the Issues Affecting Working People will be held by the Workers Educational Association from tomorrow, September 26. At 7.30 p.m. at the W.E.A., 59 Gloucester Street, Clive Matthewson, Parliamentary Undersecretary of Health, will speak on health. On October 3, Dale Little from the Distribution Workers Federation will speak on Pay Equity and on October 10, Linda Sissons, the director of the Trade Union Education Association, will speak on the Government and unions. All welcome.

The W.E.A. has recently, formed a trade union subcommittee, and is looking for more members. Any union affiliated to the W.E.A. is eligible. ■ The W.E.A. feels more members would strengthen its work in improving links between union and community issues.

The sub-committee meets on the first Monday of the month, from 7.30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the W.E.A. centre. For more information phone Steve Lane at 642-903 or Katherine Peet at 841-281 (home).