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Byron Shire
March 27, 2024

Mandy Nolan’s Soap Box: Finding Your Edge

Latest News

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Why Being Seen is Beautiful

There is something profound about being seen. Being accepted and loved for exactly who you are. It’s life changing. It’s simple. It’s transformative. But some people don’t get to experience this. Nearly half of transgender Australians have attempted suicide.That data tells the very real impact of discrimination, stigma and lack of access to gender-affirming surgery. I write this as a woman who was born a woman, who identifies as a woman. I’ll admit, that even in that gender role, that fits within the societal binary, I’ve had my own challenges.

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Big week in Byron Bay for adaptive surfers

Australia’s first-ever international adaptive surfing contest held in Byron Bay last week was an overwhelming success according to organiser Mark ‘mono’ Stewart.

Dynamic, rustic yet polished

Animal Ventura is the brainchild of Byron Bay-based singer-songwriter Fernando Aragones. Growing up playing punk and reggae in noisy garage bands in Southern Brazil, Aragones ventured to Australia where the eclectic sounds of the Sydney music scene beckoned.

Richmond MP again called on for immediate Gaza ceasefire 

On Saturday, March 16 Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine unfurled a 20m scroll with the names of murdered children and host a ‘die-in’ action at the office of the federal Member for Richmond, Justine Elliot (Labor).

Wild dog breeding season can increase attacks on domestic dogs

Local Land Services are reminding landowners to be aware of wild dogs as they have received five reports of domestic dogs being attacked and killed by wild dogs in the last two months.

Richmond Valley Rail Trail grand opening

The latest leg of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail opened in style on Saturday, with hundreds of two-wheeled travel enthusiasts spinning along the newly opened 13.4 kilometre section from Casino to Bentley.

The Picture House is turning 8

It feels like we were only just ringing in the new year days ago and here we are approaching Easter weekend at The Brunswick Picture House. It’s already been a whirlwind start to 2024 with their biggest and busiest program so far, bringing an eclectic mix of some of the hottest stand-up comedy, music gigs, film screenings and cabaret – and that was just last week!

trampoline

When I was a kid trampolines didn’t have nets. And somehow we survived. In order to sustain a summer without broken bones you had to make sure you didn’t backflip onto the lawn and onto your head. When you poured dishwashing liquid onto the mat and turned the hose on, you had to be especially careful. There was no containment. Small bodies could easily go hurtling into space. Or a tree.

But falling off wasn’t the only risk imposed by this much-loved jumping device. The springs provided a kind of medieval torture zone that snapped at small fingers and uncovered genitals. You didn’t jump in the nude. Or if you did you only did it once.
We not only lived through unnetted flight, we also lived through exposed springs. Every kid from my generation experienced at least one genital-crunching landing that saw the soft flesh of the inner thigh pinched into one of the coils. Every family had at least one kid trapped in the springs by their balls.

The middle of the trampoline offered bouncing bliss. The edge offered broken bones and mangled flesh. It taught us that within most incredibly joyful pleasurable experiences, there is an element of danger. That was how you learnt to set limits. It wasn’t just learning to jump on a springy surface, any moron can do that; you had to learn the areas where it was safe and you developed the ability for self-care. You had to be aware that jumping near an edge leads to pain.

If you ignored this basic tenet of self-regulating, pretty soon fun turned into hospital and a long wait in the emergency department. When I was a kid this knowledge acted as a kind of ‘net’. It protected us, not with an actual barrier but with consequences. This made kids jump in the middle. They even took turns because too many kids on the tramp meant the skinniest little bugger was going to be catapulted into the neighbour’s garden. (Unless of course you were doing it on purpose.)

At a backyard party at my place the other day I watched a small child approach our backyard trampoline. We don’t have a net. Children must set their own boundaries on my play equipment. Small child scrambles up onto trampoline. Small child has one jump on the very edge of the equipment allowing its body to fly freely in the air. It is a child without limits.

It is clear as the child is airborne that it is of the netted generation. It has never had to redirect its flight before and so flies off onto its back. Small child lies winded in shock. Poor thing was bawling but it was okay. Small thing just learnt an important life lesson. The edge exists. You don’t want to fall off the edge.

The net exists so parents can zip children into the trampoline enclosure and drink chardonnay on the lawn, knowing the won’t have to drink-drive to the hospital in the next hour. I worry about this generation of kids growing up with no sense of an edge. How do you set your own limits if they’re artificially imposed?

For the long-term safety of all our children we need to remove the nets from trampolines. Sure, there will be longer queues of children with broken arms at ED but maybe fewer of them will fall to their death from balconies at Schoolies. Hardly anyone in my generation fell off balconies.

We either remove the nets from trampolines, or we start netting highrise balconies. This is how we protect people from danger: we assume they’re stupid and should not be allowed to take calculated risks, so we remove the risk. It seems counter-intuitive to me; surely if you teach people that risky behaviour isn’t risky, then you’ve just created even more stupid people. Stupid people who think that to reduce risk it’s the world that should change and not them. Nets are for volleyball or cricket, not trampolines or beaches. Take the nets away and learn to manage risk.


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7 COMMENTS

  1. Mandy, Mandy, Mandy!
    When I was a kid there were no trampolines (at least my parents could not afford one, even if they were available) & there was no ‘Schoolies’
    This is why the smaller number of students did not fall off balconies.
    Of course, sometimes balconies collapsed because of poor building standards, but that is another issue.
    I do agree with you that we are not teaching limits. I went to a 1 teacher school with no phone, or transport (except for the teachers’ bicycle) so of course we were a bit more careful & knew our limits.
    (I cannot remember one ambulance, or fatality at that school of 14 pupils aged between 4 1/2 & 14 years because girls went to grade 8 then!)

    Oh, for the good ole’ days!
    (At least we had sensible politicians then a-la Snowy Mountains Scheme)

  2. Yep Mandy as usual you have seen through the eye of the storm no pain no gain thank you for giving me your insightful view of the world and most times a guilty laugh out loud moment each week have a wonderful new year girl because you added joy to mine this year Donal

  3. Hilarious! Brought back the wonderful memory of being stuck in the springs and trying to imagine how I’d navigate the rest of my life dragging a tramp behind me!

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