How Can I Help Safe Schools Coalition Australia?
As news today hit of the changes to be made to the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, people were enraged, and rightly so. Today is National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence, ironic really, considering the Australian government just hit LGBTI youth with a major form of bullying themselves. Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced changes to the program which include amending some lesson plans, restricting all program produced resources to secondary students, and resources such as “OMG I’m Queer”, “OMG My Friend’s Queer” and “Stand Out” to one-on-one counselling sessions between students and “qualified staff” (Buzzfeed). It was also indicated that Safe Schools would not continue to receive funding after 2017. In light of this information, a lot of people are probably asking themselves, “What can I do?” I know I found myself asking the same question. To put it simply, the best form of support in this kind of situation is being vocal! Talk to your communities, educate yourself on LGBTI issues, participate in rallies and protests, and most importantly, let the government …