Hi again
Oh yes yes yes...in developing and teaching a subject called
'Recreation for specific population groups', the one thing that was
common to all identifiable groups in a diverse community, is the want
to associate with people 'like themselves'. This was something
students needed to be aware of when facilitating the inclusion of
people (who were otherwise removed from the community) through
social and recreational experiences - that they will not necessarily
want to be 'mainstreamed' in their leisure. Give people the option and
don't assume that in all areas of life or at all times that people will
want to be part of an integrated society (specially one where the
status of 'other' can become tiresome). It seems very natural to me
that I work, shop, and do business in an integrated and diverse
environment and yet I am very discriminating when it comes to the
more discretionary parts of my life. Leisure is a space where I
choose do do what I want; when I want; with who I want; to become
who i want to be at the time.
This position of course is damned by the 'mainstream'. The friction
that this causes is quite evident in comments like "If they want to
come to this country they have to try to fit in...not start up their own
clubs for their own nationality" and "On one hand they want to be
accepted and included and then they want to be separate...Its just
reverse discrimination".
> Hi,
> I can hardly believe it but I've been considering this as well. Am not
> able to write at he moment but would like to discuss this with you
> further.
> Phyllis Rubenfeld
> Survivor and Professor
> Special Education
> Hunter College of the City of New York
>
> On Thu, 10 Jun 1999, homan wrote:
>
> > Good evening Paul,
> >
> > I believe we are to glib in asserting that policies of inclusion will be
> > the panacea for all our ills and pains. I once thought inclusion was
> > very nice, but have concluded after much observation that it is not a
> > natural thing people do or aspire to. On the contrary. In our
> > relationships we tend to have many more shallow relationships than close
> > acquantances, and again many fewer friends. It is a natural gradient,
> > and pretty obvious when as a golfer you stand at the bar of a yacht
> > club, or for that matter another golfclub than your own.
Best regards
Laurence Bathurst
School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Sydney
P.O. Box 170
Lidcombe NSW 2141
Australia
Phone: (62 1) 9351 9509
Fax: (62 1) 9351 9166
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Please visit the School's interim web site at
http://www.ot.cchs.usyd.edu.au
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Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious
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