YEAR 10 BOYS ABOUT IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
The day itself went smoothly , with a great amount of participation from boys and some outstanding work from my fellow coordinators . The first few sessions of the day were about introductions to the program and a couple of initial brainstorming questions , just to get us thinking early on .
We were tasked with collectively answering questions such as , ' What is a respectful relationship ?' ' What values underpin respectful relationships ?' and ' How do respectful relationships feel ?'
Shortly after , we heard the first guest speaker of the day , Jane Gilmore , on ' Gender Equality and Respect '.
This talk was fascinating , as it highlighted the biases in the media in relation to women , respect , and equality . One of the most startling examples of damaging media depictions was an article title that painted a convicted murderer as a ' good bloke '. Jane Gilmore brought up some fascinating issues and biases within our society , and she wasn ’ t afraid to talk about controversial topics or make statements that might have made some people uncomfortable .
After the amazing talk from Jane Gilmore , we returned to our smaller groups to continue the discussion she began around gender stereotypes and their role in our society . We began with writing down the different societal expectations of both men and women . We then watched a few clips of the embedded gender bias within children , which was very interesting . After a short break , we
went into our second talk , this time with Brent Sanders on ' Rights , Respect and the Law '.
Whereas Jane Gilmore focused more on forming opinions on what is right and wrong , Brent Sanders was here to tell us the cold hard facts and law . He informed us on some often overlooked or misunderstood laws regarding consent , the age of consent , and what can be considered abuse of any kind . It was truly inspiring to see all of the work that Brent Sanders has done for hundreds of other schools around Victoria , as well as running his own podcast , to further spread his messages about consent and safety .
After Brent Sanders , we had a session with the people from Elephant Ed , attempting to lessen the stigma around sexual topics and bring attention to normalised gender discrimination . We had one final group session discussing the topics from the day , including managing conflict .
All in all , the experience was wonderful , and is absolutely something that should be built upon in years to come . Days like these are an invaluable tool to properly bring these issues to light in a natural and inclusive way . www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 25