Abbott gov launching of the Safe Schools program - Jun 13, 2014

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Not even Abbott listened to the crazy lunar right wingnuts of his party, when his gov launched the SAfe Schools program across Australia. His gov was represented appropriately by his minister for vocational education and skills, Scott Ryan. Some of what he had to say is very ironic, considering my last post.

Of course this week Abbott was dead against Safe Schools, calling it "social engineering" and bla. How you are supposed to socially engineer gayness is something perhaps Abbott may like to go into sometime? Perhaps he wants to socially engineer gays into straightness? Obviously it was Abbott playing politics, beating up on the man who toppled him.

Playing politics with kid's lives. How very christian of him. 

Today we launch a program focused on issues of gender and sexuality. 

While I do not intend at all to dismiss the unique challenges in this area, it provoked me to consider the role of programs directed at specific motivations for bullying as opposed to more general lessons and principles. 

While individuals all face different challenges, and social attitudes evolve at different paces, I cannot help but think that the path to ending this type of behaviour is through simply recognising the dignity of each person as an individual and the validity of their choices. 

History has taught us that it is when we forget this, and we think of another person as primarily identified by some trait or label, that they are depersonalised. It is then that their feelings are more easily dismissed, or their dignity and individuality disregarded. 

Whether it is the kid with the funny lunch or the accent, the fat kid, the nerd, the sporty kid who has trouble keeping up in class or the kid who is hopeless at sport – it is the bullying behaviour rather than a specific insult that is the problem. What we seek to teach is empathy, to better understand the perspective and experience of another. Scott Ryan   

Exactly.

I wonder what Ryan would have said if someone told him the Safe Schools program was going to be attacked by that loony Christensen and co in 2016? And succeed? 

Safe Schools, kids lives, have become another victim of Lieberal Canberra politicking. A victim of internal Lieberals divisions over two hopeless leaders. What an absolute disgrace.