ABC's flatulence Web site draws ire

[PfcHammer]

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040708-062344-2249r.htm

ABC's flatulence Web site draws ire

Sydney, Australia, Jul. 8 (UPI) -- The Australian Broadcasting Corp. is being buffeted by stormy public winds for promoting a Web site encouraging children to break wind.

The government is outraged the national broadcaster would drop a popular children's show because of a funding shortage, then teach kids how to "make better farts," the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

Noted scientist Karl Kruszelnicki wrote a column for the site called Begone With The Wind, telling children "the average fart is a wondrous event," the report said.

Children were also encouraged to take part in a "Great Fart Survey", a "Great Baked Beans Fart Experiment" and to submit poetry about bodily functions.


The Great Baked Beans *art Experiment:
http://www.abc.net.au/spark/smelly/fartsurvey/fart.htm

[checks-n-balances]

1. They must've put an adolescent male in charge of this one (n/t)

[TeeYiYi]

2. It's offensive . . . but funny.

I don't understand all of the media catering to kids' obsession with farting. I thought Shrek and Shrek II went overboard in the 'farting for laughs' department. But then, I'm not a kid. :shrug:

TYY

[checks-n-balances]

3. Another way for kids to rebel; parents should demand a disclaimer:

"Children, don't try this at home!"

Actually, it's kind of funny, but an absolutely unnecessary website. This is something that doesn't have to be taught and doesn't need coaching or encouragement.

[seventhson]

4. I actully think this is a good way to teach experimental science

it is surely simple fundamentals of science which can be applied to anything and as such, since kids think farts are funny and interesting, I think it is actually not such a bad thing at all.

Why NOT use everyday life to applied science?

[TeeYiYi]

8. Where do you draw the line? . . .

. . . they think pooping and peeing and burping is funny too. And bums, and penises and . . .

TYY

[DrWeird]

12. Those kids are so immature!

They need to grow up!

[Dookus]

14. Yes, they do

and if you can use that to teach science and a normal respect for bodily functions, what's wrong with that?

Is it better for kids to grow up ashamed of their bodies and its functions?

[SOS]

15. Older students may wish

to add a book of matches to their lab supplies. :)

[TeeYiYi]

5. I agree . . .

. . . it is absolutely unnecessary and I disagree with what it teaches kids. I thought about qualifying my statement after I posted that I thought it was funny. Some of it WAS kind of funny . . . for adults — not children. I'm surprised that ABC would think that website was acceptable marketing toward kids. Maybe I'm just out of touch.

TYY

[soaky]

6. In defence of the ABC

Spark is a 'weird science' site for kids, and the fart survey is only a portion of the site. If talking about farts and looking at the biology and mechanics behind them is a good tool for getting kids interested in science, then good on them.

[PartyPooper]

7. This seems like a thread more suited for the Lounge.

...if you get my drift.

:evilgrin:

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. a wondrous event

Nobody ever thought so sitting at their desks in the 3rd grade.

[Ganja Ninja]

10. I thought Terrence and Phillip were Canadian?

[iverglas]

11. canadian farts, old and new

I read this one out loud to my kindergarten-ish aged nephew after Christmas dinner a dozen years ago, aiming much of it gleefully to my kinda proper-Brit grandmother, who obligingly looked mildly shocked.



The author says:

It's about a family where the parents think that 'good families' don't have farts.

... One day I told the story in a big teacher's convention in Toronto. It was an example of 'stories that kids like that are hard to make into books'. After I was done a man came up in a very spiffy three-piece suit and he said "Huuummm. That story you told. The one about the fart. Is it true that you can't get it published?"

I said "Yes, absolutely true."

The three piece suit person said, "Maybe we should go out for lunch. My name is John Pierce and I am the editor of Doubleday Canada and it seems to me that that would make a very good story."

So I did go out to lunch with him and Doubleday Canada decided to do the book, but he said, "We can't just call it FART!" Bookstores will not like it.

... After it came out, I went to the Bookshelf and one of the owners said, "All the kids are coming in and yelling 'HAVE YOU GOT THE FART BOOK?" "Maybe you should have called it FART after all.

It's a good kids' site: http://www.robertmunsch.com/

Oh look! - you can download Munsch reading it aloud, in mp3.

http://www.robertmunsch.com/playstory.cfm?bookid=48

Or buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440405653/qid=1089411730/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-0646326-2732112?v=glance&s=books
and check out Paper Bag Princess while you're there:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0920236162/ref=pd_sim_books_5/102-0646326-2732112?v=glance&s=books
about a smart tough princess who rescues the spoiled stupid prince and doesn't marry him.

Another Munsch that people love is Love You Forever,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0920668372/ref=pd_sim_books_1/102-0646326-2732112?v=glance&s=books
despite the fact that some people see some pretty weird stuff in it.

[snippy]

13. These kids should be reading.

Sale Price: $12.95
By: Benjamin Franklin/Carl Japikse (editor)
Publisher: Enthea Press
Page Count: 128pp
Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Notes:
Date Published: 2003

http://www.atomicbooks.com/detail.php?cat=9&catid=10&prodid=4717

[TrogL]

16. There's a book on farting at the local science store

They can't keep it in stock. They've got dozens of copies on back-order.

[NashVegas]

17. Some People Truly Can't Remember

the good parts of being a kid

[Geo55]

18. ZACKLY !!

Pull my finger

[BiggJawn]

19. I'm in TEARS, I tell you!

I haven't laughed this much in almost 4 years!

"I really doubt that any device made by the human race could do this task, and keep on doing it for some 70 years. This is the magnificent job that your anal sphincter does some 10 times per day, without fail."

ONLY 10 times? Try taking medication that lists "mild flatulence" as a side-effect....

Oh, the glossary!

I learned some things tonight!
http://www.abc.net.au/spark/smelly/fartsurvey/terms.htm

[alfredo]

21. You might hold off on the onion rings.

http://www.abc.net.au/spark/smelly/fartgame/default.htm

[truthisfreedom]

20. you know, if they get it out of the kids' systems early, maybe they won't

have to put it, relentlessly, into hollywood chick flicks to give guys something to laugh at. i'm sick of it already... along came polly? come on! i've seen the last potty/fart/poopy joke i want to see from hollywood. if this gets the kids over it, so be it. maybe they can laugh early and be rid of it once and for all.

[fortyfeetunder]

22. As a mommy and a scientist I say right on

Whatever gets the kids interested in science is OK with me. Animals fart, people fart, it's a normal chemical process. Maybe some kid will figure out a link between farting and some dreadful disease like colon cancer resulting from adolescent interest in farts.