Andrew Barr to bring more gay education to Canberra's schools

georgesgenitals said :

It would be more useful to focus on bullying in schools. This would help a lot more children, and would pick up on many of the themes Barr wants to target with his program anyway.

Totally agree!
Start taking action (real action) against bullies and bullying.

It isn’t like it is just “everyone elses problem”
Almost all of us in here would either have a child or know someone with a child who is being bullied OR who is a bully.

johnboy said :

Apparently you lot are demonstrating the need for this program: http://twitter.com/#!/ABarrMLA

Yet another example of the Labor government trying to treat us like children. They are supposed to our representatives, not our parents. It’s a shame they care so little bout what their constituents think.

It would be more useful to focus on bullying in schools. This would help a lot more children, and would pick up on many of the themes Barr wants to target with his program anyway.

Actually all this has done for me is point out how daft twitter really is and that Andrew Barr should get over it.

I’m fine with the program in essence but don’t release info in this manner unless you want people to make silly comments about it.

And in true political style, responses are not diplayed on his twitter page.

My time is already being taken up teaching my kids Sharia Law, not to refer to us as parents, erasing holidays like Christmas and Easter from their calendars, and now this; I guess soon there will be no time to actually teach children general fundamentals about anythiong other than how to remain politically correct with our minority groups and eliminate that new beast called bullying (I am glad nobody was gay or bullied when I was at school 30 years ago).

Instead of being agenda driven likely as he is a spokesperson for homosexuals, perhaps he could focus on addressing how children are being bullied and cyber awareness etc.

Gerry-Built said :

Deref said :

Bloody excellent. Prejudice has no place in Australia and the place to start is education in the schools.

Education begins at home. Most school students’ negative attitudes are bought from home, particularly in regards to homosexuality. Schools, and their staff, are just expected to deal with the results of poor parenting… Which is simply being reinforced at home, in the case of the children that actually need such a program.

Perhaps Barr could support schools better in their ability to actually discipline offenders more appropriately.

Indeed. Sadly, though, you can’t go into every home and slap ignorant parents – but you can teach more enlightened attitudes to kids at school.

A program to build understanding and respect and counter ignorance and intolerance deserves to be supported. Homophobia doesn’t just affect same sex attracted people it affects boys and men who may not be as ‘manly’ or masculine as other males. It affects girls and woman who may not be as ‘feminine’ as other girls.  Homophobia is linked to why so many boys don’t continue to study the arts or why some girls may stop sport.   All our children deserve the full range of opportunities safe and inclusive environments provide.  High levels of harassment and violence reported by same-sex attracted young people is just the tip of the iceberg.  Other states address these issues the ACT needs to be doing at least as much.  It is particularly brave for a gay Minister to raise the matter because of the sorts of stupid response included here about promoting a lifestyle.

Any such program should be more focused on acceptance generally. I don’t recall seeing students isolated, bullied or attacked for being ‘gay’; though I have seen many, many students go through hell because they are ‘different’ in other ways.

…interesting to see what the Catholic schools will make of this program.

Deref said :

Bloody excellent. Prejudice has no place in Australia and the place to start is education in the schools.

Education begins at home. Most school students’ negative attitudes are bought from home, particularly in regards to homosexuality. Schools, and their staff, are just expected to deal with the results of poor parenting… Which is simply being reinforced at home, in the case of the children that actually need such a program.

Perhaps Barr could support schools better in their ability to actually discipline offenders more appropriately.

Captain RAAF said :

trevar said :

Captain RAAF said :

Looks like another trip to the principles office…..

Perhaps you could get some spelling lessons as well as some principles.

Thats pretty rich, coming from a bloke that can’t spell Trevor correctly!

Bit of knucklehead are you?

I bet you follow the bum sniffing sports too!

There are a lot of straight kids who are hopeless at sport, bullied for it, and not gay. There are kids who are bashed on the way home for being different (colour, ability, shyness), or just for being there. We know some of them. All these kids need protecting, not just the gay kids.

This just reeks of Barr pushing a narrow agenda that he has a significant interest in, when a broader agenda could do so much good. If Barr were genuine about all this, then he would look at a broader anti-discrimination strategy that says ALL forms of prejudice, bullying, abuse and discrimination are unacceptable. How on earth it will fit into an already overcrowded curriculum, that is going to be even harder to manage with the national curriculum, is another question entirely.

For that matter, if Barr were serious about good behaviour, he would demonstrate it himself and cease bullying when members of the community don’t agree with him.

Bloody excellent. Prejudice has no place in Australia and the place to start is education in the schools.

Virgo1972 said :

I also object to the word ‘homophobic’. A phobia is a persistant, irrational, innate fear of something. I’ve heard lots of anti-gay comments in my time but i’ve never seen anyone actually have a phobic reaction to a gay or lesbian person. This is a term created by the gay community that is designed to envoke sympathy to an otherwise unworthy cause. I’m very keen to hear others opinions on this.

Object all you like. The fact is that people who are prejudiced against homosexuality (or skin colour for that matter) are displaying a persistent, irrational and innate fear of it. “Homophobia” is the correct and appropriate term.

Example in question: “an otherwise unworthy cause”. So combating prejudice against homosexuals is unworthy? Why? Do you believe combating racial prejudice is “unworthy” too?

trevar said :

Captain RAAF said :

Looks like another trip to the principles office…..

Perhaps you could get some spelling lessons as well as some principles.

Thats pretty rich, coming from a bloke that can’t spell Trevor correctly!

There might be some basis for wondering about how effective any program would be – I often fear that well-intentioned efforts like this sometimes backfire. For that matter, given the way ‘gay’ gets used as a pejorative, I still wonder if it wouldn’t be better to have settled on a ‘poofter power’ movement and spat that word, with defiance and pride, right back in the faces of the sad and insecure creeps who are unable to allow another person their freedom, but are the first to squeal if any of their percieved rights to be as obnoxious as they choode are in any way restricted.

Apparently you lot are demonstrating the need for this program: http://twitter.com/#!/ABarrMLA

If any of you knew how painful and difficult it can be to be a gay kid in school, you would be embarrassed with reading these completely thoughtless statements.

The purspose of these programs isn’t to try and indoctrinate or ‘promote lifestyles’ but to combat the isolation that young LGBT people can feel in the playground. Sure there are some young people who are completely comfortable with their sexuality, out and proud at school. But there are also a great many more who struggle with their sexuality, listen to their identity being denigrated as an everyday playground slur (“that’s so gay” etc) and being made to feel inferior or having to hide who they are.

Having supportive school environments, where these young people spend nearly a 3rd of their waking lives during their formative years, is crucial in combat the fear, ignorance and intolerance that leads to so many of the problems many face later in life. I think Minister Barr should be applauded encouraging schools to be safe, not hostile, environments for their charges.

I am disgusted that any parent should feel it is ok to send their or any other child into environments where they should feel unsafe, invisible and worthless. Who knows, maybe it’s your child they are trying to support with this initiative.

For whatever reason heteronormativity and heterosexism (is that better than homophobia???) are still seen as acceptable. Racism, sexism and active discrimination or disadvantage of any other group has long since been unacceptable at school. It’s time sexual and gender identity was given the same respect.

Hi, long time lurker, first time commenter.

While the younger generation is increasingly comfortable with same sex orientation there is still homophobia within Canberran schools. I don’t really understand why there is this fuss about the idea. All it’s going to be is a program about how calling someone a fag is hurtful. That hey kids, some people like to romance others of their own gender. That some of those people are successful in their professional lives and that there’s nothing wrong with being gay.

All of that seems self evident enough to me, but I’m not being brought up by someone telling me that if I was gay, I’d be kicked out of home, (as indeed one of my daughter’s friends was told). I’m not being called fag because I’m not good at football. I don’t have three of my fellow students following me own my way home after school and throwing homophobic slurs and small stones at me.

This proposed program will do no harm that I can see, and only should do good. If Barr’s own orientation has any influence on this, I would imagine that’s because he can remember being a gay teenager and feels empathy for those being bullied now.

I want my children to learn reading, writing and mathematics at school, but I also expect them to learn how to be civilised outside of family influence.

It seems Barr is prioritising his personal lifestyle over those of the community of which he is supposed to represent.

There are far more important (and IMO appropriate) issues which need to be emphasised in schools; like reading, writing and mathematics for example.

One way of ensuring kids don’t group up to be homophobic is to treat homosexuals as equal, right?

In which case, why create such a fuss?

Andrew Barr might be the Minister for Education and gay, but he’s not a parent. I hope he’s planning a lengthy timeframe for parental consultation prior to any implementation plan as majority approval will take a very long time.

I also object to the word ‘homophobic’. A phobia is a persistant, irrational, innate fear of something. I’ve heard lots of anti-gay comments in my time but i’ve never seen anyone actually have a phobic reaction to a gay or lesbian person. This is a term created by the gay community that is designed to envoke sympathy to an otherwise unworthy cause. I’m very keen to hear others opinions on this.

Captain RAAF said :

Looks like another trip to the principles office…..

Perhaps you could get some spelling lessons as well as some principles.

An ACT version being developed? Are all the references to Oxford St being replaced with Kambah Pool?

Captain RAAF said :

Looks like another trip to the principles office…..

Maybe you can pick some up while you’re there.

If he had kids he’d know damn well that, as Dustytrail #1 says, kids don’t give a toss about being homophopbic. Barr is obviously under worked where there are a hundred different and more relevant programmes he could be rolling out across the schools and this is all he can think of.

Not a hope in Hell!!!!

As much chance of me standing for this as there is of the Aboriginal flag being flown higher than the ANF at Charles Conder Primary, aint gonna happen!

Looks like another trip to the principles office…..

Yawn! I would imagine that school students are a lot less homophobic than the rest of the population. Why is Barr bothering with this … other than the fact that he is a homosexual?