'Safe Schools' – the price of silence
The ironically named and Marxist-inspired ‘Safe Schools’ program actively puts Aussie kids at risk in the environment where they most deserve safety and protection. Worse still, if the authors of the program had their way it would be rolled out to all schools without even a hint of parental consent – an egregious breach of parental autonomy and choice.
This radical thought bubble, generated by a group of self-described Marxists at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, has somehow found its way into public education policy at both a state and federal level, with no meaningful consultation or consent from parents or educators.
It goes without saying that no one would oppose genuine efforts to stamp out bullying and abuse in our schools, especially when geared towards students at particular risk. However, the simple and sad fact is that the ‘Safe Schools’ Program is not an anti-bullying program – it was never intended to be. It is a program geared solely towards perverse social engineering and furthering the objectives of the fringe academics that were its architects.
At the most basic level, it defies common sense. Having a ‘Gender Fairy’ tell impressionable boys and girls as young as four that their gender is whatever they feel like at any given moment is not about bullying, nor is it about child welfare. It’s about enacting insidious social change at the direct expense of the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society. Worse still, Australians have been shocked by many elements of the program, which argue that school children should have unfettered access to online pornography and webpages promoting dangerous activities such as female chest binding. Any objective assessment of the appropriateness of this conduct would resolve that it should sit squarely in the domain of parents, not the government.
Already, there are mounting examples of young children who, having been exposed to these ideas, have been incorrectly pigeonholed simply for exhibiting behaviour that one would expect of natural childhood curiosity and experimentation. These children are then encouraged to adopt a new gender identity and in extreme cases, undergo drastic medical procedures while far too young to comprehend the enormous consequences of their actions. Setting medical intervention aside, the long term negative mental health implications of messing with these children’s minds is undeniable.
The use of taxpayer funds to push a leftwing political agenda in schools and universities is nothing new in Australia. However, this is particularly extreme. This is not a program that merely seeks to misinform students about yet another trendy, left-wing cause. This is a program that actively puts children’s lives and mental wellbeing at risk, all while having the audacity to claim the moral high ground on issues of student welfare and bullying, with the level of arrogance that only the Left can conjure.
Yet this program isn’t about identity. It’s about so much more.
The ‘Safe Schools’ program uses school children as pawns in a bizarre attempt to attack capitalism through the systematic dismantling and undermining of the family unit as a societal structure. Don’t take my word for it – look to the program’s chief architect, Roz Ward. In an address to the annual Marx- ism Conference in Melbourne last year, Ward opined that:
“To smooth the operation of capitalism the ruling class has bene ted, and continues to benefit, from oppressing our bodies, our relationships, sexuality and gender identities alongside sexism, homophobia and transphobia. Both serve to break the spirits of ordinary people, to consume our thoughts, to make us accept the status quo and for us to keep living or aspiring to live, or feel like we should live, in small social units and families where we must re- produce and take responsibility for those people in those units.”
This says it all. It is the legitimate belief of the ‘Safe Schools’ founders that the perfectly normal and instinctive human tendency to live and re- produce in small social units (i.e. families) is actually part of a grand capitalist conspiracy to oppress and “break the spirit” of ordinary people. This brief excerpt, and so many others like it, offer us insight into the warped worldview of those who have driven this program from its conception.
Yet for all of their bluster at Marxism Conferences, the creeping implementation of this benignly-named program, in many cases without parents’ knowledge, is evidence of their sinister intent. Moreover, it’s truly worrying that many in our society now live in fear of being branded a bigot for daring to question any cause championed by the PC Left, even in the defence of children and common sense. This cultural group-think stifles debate and leads to damaging societal outcomes, in this case for some of the most vulnerable in our society.
As stated at the outset, I hope to one day see a truly effective anti-bullying strategy which targets all students and eradicates this scourge from our schools. However, it is clear that ‘Safe Schools’ is not the answer. Indeed, its continuation will do far more harm than good.
And for all the fear that can come with calling out the Left, we’re obliged to do so. When it comes to the welfare of the next generation, the price of silence is simply too high.
Michael Heydon is the Treasurer of the Western Australian Young Liberal Movement.