Will Schools no Longer be Safe?
It emerged earlier this month that the Safe Schools program has been ditched in NSW. It is to be replaced by a wider, more holistic anti-bullying plan, less focused on sexual and gender diversity. Tony Abbott has been quick to endorse the changes which will be made available to teachers in July, saying it ‘is good that NSW is scrapping so-called Safe Schools, a social engineering programme dressed up as anti-bullying’. Bill Shorten has labelled the Safe Schools issue ‘a political football’, saying ‘it is important that children go to school and are not bullied on the basis of their sexuality’. Indeed, many are resistant to the program’s closure, saying it will exacerbate the marginalisation vulnerable teens already face, and will further entrench homophobic and heteronormative ways of thinking. The Daily discussed these negative implications with Chris Pycroft, Co-Convenor of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.
Produced by Madison Thorne.
