School in Australia makes male students apologise for ‘behaviours of their gender’

30 March 2021, 10:42 | Updated: 30 March 2021, 14:43

Boys at Brauer College were told to stand up in assembly and apologise for "behaviours of their gender".
Boys at Brauer College were told to stand up in assembly and apologise for "behaviours of their gender". Picture: Google Maps

Parents say they were left “completely mortified” after a school in Australia told male students to stand up in assembly and apologise to their female peers for “behaviours of their gender”.

Brauer College in Warrnambool, Victoria, held the whole school assembly last week, when they say “boys were asked to stand as a symbolic gesture of apology for the behaviours of their gender that have hurt or offended girls and women”.

While the school says the move was “well-intended”, parents and male students have been left furious, with many speaking out about the event.

Levi, 12, told A Current Affair he felt “a bit under pressure to stand up and if I didn’t then I felt like a bad person”.

Read more: Everyone's Invited: Investigate abuse claims in schools immediately, government urged

Meanwhile, male student Vini, 15, claims many of the girls “probably didn’t even want us to say sorry to them”.

Vini says he heard girls behind him “crying because they just got basically exposed to the whole entire school”.

Jess Phillips demands Govt takes action on sexual abuse in schools

His mother told the Australian TV show that she felt the school had “handled this in a very bad way”.

"He has got to say sorry to a girl who he has never done anything to....All it’s doing is saying they're perpetrators in the future, they are going to be predators, they are going to be rapists,” she said.

Nicole Daniels, also a parent at the school, said she was left “completely mortified, completely and utterly mortified and shocked”.

“What they have made the boys do, they have labelled them and categorised them all into the same category as a perpetrator and a rapist when these boys have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Ms Daniels told the Australian Today show.

Read more: Everyone's Invited: 'More concern' for abusers than victims, says child protection campaigner

Pornography normalises sexual violence towards women, says sociologist

However, some parents have come to the defence of the school, with one mother reportedly posting on Facebook that the exercise was only intended to “raise awareness”.

“My son explained they stood not to apologise, but to stand in support and solidarity,' another parent wrote.

“You'll find all schools will be teaching consent over the next year - Brauer won't be the only one.”

Read more: Boris Johnson among world leaders calling for global treaty on future pandemics

Caller furiously condemns Prophet Muhammad protesters

'Problematic'

The assembly came after thousands of women and girls at schools across Australia have shared their stories of being sexually assaulted, harassed or raped.

The movement began after former Kambala School student Chanel Contos launched a petition in February, demanding students be taught about consent.

Ms Contos herself has described Brauer College’s assembly as “problematic”, telling NCA NewsWire: “It doesn’t address the root of the problem.”

“We can’t make it seem like men are being the heroes here.

“If all men are to all stand in solidarity they kind of have a get-out-of-jail-free card – I’m obviously on the girl’s side, but will [boys] still go to the locker room after school and talk about a girl they had sex with on the weekend really inappropriately, maybe, probably.

“We need to make sure as a society that movements towards reconciliation are movements towards making a better future… we can’t make a hostile environment for people to offer up solutions.”

Read more: Sir Lenny Henry pens letter urging black Britons to ‘take the Covid jab’

Eddie Mair reads out phone numbers for abused women to receive support

Brauer College responds

In a statement, Brauer College said: “Schools play an important role in the promotion of safety and respect of all students, and discussions in schools around respect towards girls and women are a key part of this vital work.

“This week, at a whole school assembly, Brauer College discussed the topic of respect for woman and the importance of bystander behaviour and speaking up to report incidents of inappropriate behaviour.

“The assembly included the screening of a video message by Brisbane Boys' College Captain Mason Black about being proactive in stopping incidents of sexual assault and harassment.

“As part of this discussion boys were asked to stand as a symbolic gesture of apology for the behaviours of their gender that have hurt or offended girls and women.

“In retrospect, while well-intended, we recognise that this part of the assembly was inappropriate.”

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

More than 2 million drivers are set to hit the road on Good Friday.

Easter Carmageddon: Over two million drivers to hit the road on Good Friday after Brits hit by Storm Nelson travel chaos

Michael Gove has slammed the water firm as a 'disgrace'.

Thames Water bosses branded a ‘disgrace’ as Michael Gove tells firm ‘not to punish consumers’ for its failings

South Africa Bus Crash

Girl, 8, the sole survivor as 45 die in bus crash off South Africa bridge

A spokesman has denied reports the sausage dog could be banned.

The wurst news is over: Germany denies claims of sausage dog ban

Israel Palestinians Britain Aid

UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza

Greece Confidence Vote

Greece’s government survives no-confidence motion called over rail disaster

A council has had to apologise following the incident.

Fury as parents offered version of school class photo without complex needs pupils

Conjoined twin who shot to fame with sister on The Oprah Winfrey Show marries army veteran in private ceremony

Conjoined twin who shot to fame with sister on The Oprah Winfrey Show marries army veteran in private ceremony

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

Firefighters at the scene of a bus crash in Limpopo

Bus plunges from bridge in South Africa and erupts into flames, killing at least 45 and leaving child, 8, as lone survivor

Music-Green Day UN

Green Day to headline UN-backed global climate concert

Exclusive
Starmer has vowed to resurrect Boris Johnson's 'Levelling Up' policy

Failure to ‘level up’ Britain would be ‘catastrophic’, Wes Streeting admits, as Starmer vows to resurrect Johnson policy

Border Force staff will walk out from April 11

Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport to stage four-day strike

Stephen Bear was ordered to pay Ms Harrison £5,000.

Disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear ordered to pay £27,000 over revenge porn conviction or face nine months in jail

Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX founder Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud

Exclusive
Covid no excuse for death of Finley Boden who was murdered by drug-addled parents, child protection chief says

Covid no excuse for death of Finley Boden who was murdered by drug-addled parents, child protection chief says