Hop for Visibility Awareness and Equality: Safe Schools Program.

[misslj_author]

Once upon a time in Australian schools, there was a program called Safe Schools. The program was put into practice in the last days of the Rudd Labor government, approximately six years ago. It was designed to provide teachers and schools with the tools to better understand and help students who were gay, lesbian, intersex, transgender, bisexual or asexual. It was hailed as a great achievement in the movement towards tolerance and equality, but perhaps more importantly, it helped young Australians understand that being non-heteronormative wasn't a bad thing, and that it provided a safe space from bullying and torment any GBLTQI child might experience.



From the Safe Schools website, I quote:

All Australian schools value the health and wellbeing of students and agree that bullying of any kind is harmful and should not be accepted. Across religions and cultures there is a shared belief in the right of all people to be safe, happy and healthy and to be treated with dignity and respect. This is not possible for students and staff in a homophobic or transphobic school environment.

With government and community support, we are assisting hundreds of schools across the country in their efforts to actively promote safety, diversity, inclusion and respect for the whole school community. This includes working in partnership with government and independent schools, schools in diverse geographic locations, and faith-based schools.

It's a good program, and an important program. It was providing a lot of support to kids who needed it, a lot of teaching to those kids who didn't quite understand GBLTQI issues, and assisting teachers, parents and schools as well.



However, with an election and a new, highly conservative government, came some pushback against the program. That pushback turned into outrage which turned into demands from the far right and from various groups who are blatantly homophobic and transphobic to gut the program entirely. Many parts of the right wing conservative media lashed out at the program. I link them here, but I warn you, the contents of these articles can be triggering.

The Australian cried that the Safe Schools program was (gasp!) making kids learn how to say the words "transgender" and "intersex." Honestly, there's a lot of pearl clutching in the above article and I can imagine the author fainting and someone crying for the smelling salts. I personally rolled my eyes so hard at this piece that I'm surprised my eyes didn't get stuck in the back of my head, but I digress. From Sky News comes the piece that former conservative Prime Minister John Howard is "baffled" that the program even exists. The Brisbane Times is glad the program is getting scrutinized because it's "an excuse for brainwashing … a license for depravity." A mother wrote to Senator Cory Bernardi, a far right senator about the program and was told, among other things, that "You clearly haven’t got any idea what is in the program. If you did then you would be worried about your children being exposed to unhealthy ideas at such an early age."

In the end, new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, called for a review into the Safe Schools Program, giving into the demands of the far right members of his party (Liberal Party) and members of groups who are blatantly homophobic and transphobic and make no apology for it. The review listed a string of recommendations which Turnbull accepted and decided to pare back the program and make it for high schools only. The Conversation goes into more detail about this and the outcomes of it, concluding that:

Much of what the Safe Schools Coalition aims to achieve relates to the whole school culture. While some of this includes lesson plans, this is just one aspect of the program. The remainder includes contextual approaches to reducing homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and encouraging a school culture that is more inclusive of any difference and diversity.

(Warning: the above is pro the Safe Schools program but may contain material that is triggering.)



The Saturday Paper also has a good article about the history of the program and how it was targeted and its near-demise. (As with all articles linked here, please beware that it may contain triggering material.) Doctors and health professionals came out in support of the program, sending an open letter to the Prime Minister and the government on the subject. More media began to publish pieces in support of the program and detailing what happened to a great support and resource.

Politicians and journalists can talk in grand terms and somber tones about the program and debate until the cows come home whether or not it's a good thing or bad thing. But the ones who really need to be heard are the children themselves, and their families, and those who grew up knowing they were different but didn’t have anything like Safe Schools to turn to. One mother begged the government to reconsider, as her son is transgender. Another woman wrote passionately about growing up the child of lesbian parents and of her own coming out without having the support of something like Safe Schools.



However, these words fell on deaf ears as the lobbying by Christian groups and right-wing MPs had the program downsized and, in the words of one MP, "gutted."

And yet, despite the downsizing, the gutting and the verbal abuse thrown around about the program, some light shone in a dark and ugly tunnel. The states of Victoria and ACT decided that they were going to defy the federal government and fund an unchanged program from their own state budgets. In South Australia, Uniting Communities (Uniting Church) backed the program and teachers rallied in support, urging the SA state government to follow in Victoria and the ACT's footsteps.

The program isn't dead yet, despite many wishing it was. The debate continues to rage as children navigate the ever-changing waters of school society and those schools who are involved in the program are doing the best to help them. For myself, I think the program is a great one and it should be embraced by all the states and territories in Australia, and not removed from the curriculum.

*~*~*

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FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE REST OF THE HOP.

Comments

[laurie goudge (from livejournal.com)]

its great to see some of the states in your country trying to help kids. its so hard these days to navigate growing up and figuring out who you are without such programs. thanks for highlighting this issue

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

It is. I just hope that more states get on board and do more.

[jl_merrow]

I'd heard about this programme being axed, and was saddened by it - one of my own favourite charities is Diversity Role Models, which goes into schools in the UK to do much the same thing.

So encouraging to read about states and communities defying the government line over the programme! :D

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

A lot of people are very angry with the current federal government, so they're going their own way, which is encouraging.

[http://openid.aol.com/vitajex (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for telling us about the Safe Schools Coalition...we don't hear much about it in the US!

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome.

hop

[cornelia simpkins (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks for informative post.
cvsimpkins@msn.com

Re: hop

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

[suzi webster (from livejournal.com)]

This sounds a great program and I'm glad that some states are sticking with it.
Funny how one or two naysayers manage to get things overturned against many more wanting things to stay or be returned

Littlesuze at hotmail.com

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree. It's a great program and has helped so many young people, but the current government are just... well, they're not for the program.

[vikli88.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing about this program. It sounds like a great program and hopefully more will follow in their footsteps and expand into other territories.

humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

I hope so too. Very much.

[am leibowitz (from livejournal.com)]

Oh, wow. That sounds like a great program. I wish we had something like it here.

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

Hopefully more states implement it on their own, so that it's there for all.

safe schools

[lee todd (from livejournal.com)]

wish New South Wales would get behind this!

leetee2007(at)hotmail(dot)com

Re: safe schools

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

And SA!

[chickie4.livejournal.com]

This sounds like such a wonderful program, and I am glad that there are people fighting to keep it going. We need to teach kids that it's okay to be different. And even if you don't personally like someone's difference, you still need to respect the person and treat them fairly. Aka, no bullying, or spewing hate just because you have a mouth and were raised in a barn with no manners or sense of decency. If you disagree with someone, fine, you disagree. That does not give you the right to start spitting vitriol at them. Thank you for sharing about this wonderful program, I hope that it overcomes the haters and spreads to other countries as well.

tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

I do, too. It's a great program.