|
|
Brisbane school defends gambling classes
AM - Thursday, 7 August , 2008 08:12:00
Reporter: Emily Bourke
TONY EASTLEY: Anti-gambling campaigners are outraged that secondary students in Brisbane are being taught how to place bets at the races as part of their maths classes.
The Catholic girls' school in Brisbane says the mock gambling exercises are aimed at sharpening the students' mathematics. The head maths teacher says the lessons also educate the students about the risks of gambling.
Emily Bourke reports.
EMILY BOURKE: According to its website, Mt St Michael's College nurtures its students in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity to be principled young women with a passion for life, a commitment to justice and the courage to live out the teachings of Jesus.
But perhaps the college missed the biblical warnings about the love of money being the root of all evil. The students at the Brisbane Catholic girls' school are being taught how to place bets at the racetrack and at the casino.
The head of maths at Mt St Michael's College is Kathy Towler. She says teaching senior students about gambling is a part of the curriculum.
KATHY TOWLER: Part of the Queensland curriculum for mathematics for all students who are doing Prevoc maths, which is the group of students to whom you are referring, or indeed students who are doing the numeracy course, is to equip them with information about the dangers of gambling - how the odds are stacked in favour of the gambling institutions and how easy it is for them to lose money.
EMILY BOURKE: Have the girls been given an imaginary $50 to spend at the racetrack?
KATHY TOWLER: I can't comment on that, I'm not sure, but if that had been done then that would be a very sensible way for them to get an idea of how quickly money can be lost.
And we do do other things as well. For example, we get them to look at the probabilities of the various poker hands so those girls can sit down and of course, working out the probabilities of getting various poker hands is quite complex.
EMILY BOURKE: Mark Holzworth is from the Australian Families Association in Queensland. He says there are better ways to teach the principles of risk and return.
MARK HOLZWORTH: For many years now there has been in existence some such things as the stockmarket game where kids are able to pit themselves against the market, against other participants in the market, and thereby gain understanding of the risks relevant to return opportunities.
But I think there needs to be an understanding of where going too far, many of the community consider gambling to be a vice. Do we therefore in health classes take our kids to go and see tobacco factories or breweries? I just don't know that we're associating their development with the best-case opportunity for them.
EMILY BOURKE: But Kathy Towler from Mt St Michael's College says students are not at risk of becoming problem gamblers.
KATHY TOWLER: No, (laughs) I mean not from doing this, they don't. This is about recognising the fact that gambling opportunities in our community, sadly, are increasing dramatically and that there are very serious victims from that.
There may be a fun component in it, but there's also the feeling at the end when you walk away with nothing.
TONY EASTLEY: The head of maths at Mt St Michael's College, Kathy Towler, ending Emily Bourke's report. |
|
发表于 2008-8-8 11:31
