Students singing sexist songs, sexual assaults in parks…do parents need to take some responsibility for the lack of education about sex and respect?
Aug 26, 2021
Originally posted 27/10/2019
My faith in humanity and optimism was restored regarding the next generation of young men. A 12-year-old boy recently spoke up in public on behalf of the men at a public event, to take responsibility for respecting women and to help keep everyone safe. I explain the boy’s speech in the video here, that I filmed after a week filled with media conversations about disrespect to women.
He spoke up at community event, a reclaiming of the park that an assault had occurred in. It was called ‘Light or Dark, We Go To The Park’. It was my local park, and I was there with other locals and families to come together to celebrate how we use our park and be unified in the face of threatening people in our community.
In the past fortnight, some significant situations had occurred, both in my local community and the broader community here in Melbourne, Australia, that left me feeling both mad and sad. Mad with parents/adults and sad for kids.
In order to support parents and teachers to do better regarding respectful relationships and sexuality conversations, I was compelled to record this video, in response to the events and found myself pleading with parents. I was pleading for them to take more responsibility around educating their children about respect, and human sexuality.
Two incidents that had occurred that week leading up to the video:
- A sexual assault in my local park. The person who was assaulted was brave and courageous and fought the attacker under what must have been terrifying circumstances, the attacker turned the selves into police the next day.
- A group of students from a private all boys school felt entitled to sing a loud and disgusting sexist chant about women, as a 'pack' and on public transport in their school uniforms.
Both coincided with me completing my final week of teaching primary school students sexuality education and I was despairing at what many of the 300 kids, that week, would tell me about their parents inadequate and even harmful, reactions to their questions.
We need to remember to not be leading these conversations with fear and danger. Strip back the negative messages you may have received all your life about these topics, change your language and frame these conversations with joy and positivity.
We need to break down rigid gender stereotypes and start talking about sexual health and wellbeing, as well as respectful relationships. This will give this next generation the chance to grow up understanding how to have safe, joyful and respectful sexual experiences, partnerships and relationships with others.
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