Parents have lashed out at a Victorian school after male students were forced to stand in assembly and apologise for the sexual assaults caused by their gender.
Brauer College in the south-western Victorian town of Warrnambool held an assembly on Wednesday where boys were told to stand up in a symbolic gesture of apology to girls and women.
Levi, a 12-year-old student at the school who had only attended the college from the start of 2021, said he was forced to get up in front of his new classmates and apologise, many of whom he hadn’t met.
‘They told us to stand up and turn to a girl in our class and say sorry,’ Levi told A Current Affair.
‘I don’t think it’s okay to be sexually assaulted. I felt a bit under pressure to stand up and if I didn’t I felt like I was a bad person.’
Brauer College in Warrnambool, south-western Victoria has been criticised for holding an assembly where its young male students had to apologise on behalf of their gender
Parents have lashed out at a Victorian school after male students were forced to stand in assembly and apologise for the sexual assaults caused by their gender
Another student named Vini said there were several girls in the assembly hall that began crying because they’d been revealed in front of everyone as having been victims.
‘I had girls behind me crying because they’d basically been exposed to the entire school and we had to apologise for stuff we didn’t actually do.’
The boys’ mother said the decision from the school was making it seem like the boys would be ‘perpetrators in the future’.
One parent said her son in Year 7 was left confused about why he had to stage the bizarre apology, where boys were told to say sorry that women are raped and sexually assaulted.
‘He said that he was made to stand up and basically apologise… it wasn’t explained properly to the male students what they were doing or why they were doing it,’ the mother Danielle Shephard told 7News.
‘They really should have made more of an effort to notify the parents.’
Levi (pictured), a 12-year-old student at the school who had only attended the institution from the start of 2021, said he was forced to get up in front of his new classmates and apologise
The boys’ mother (pictured) said the decision from the school was making it seem like the boys would be ‘perpetrators in the future’
In a separate post on Facebook, Ms Shepherd shared another complaint from a parent who called the assembly ‘a joke’.
‘Wow just wow… this is actually disgusting Brauer College… not at all impressed that you made my son apologise for something he’s never done nor considered doing,’ she wrote.
A male student also criticised the assembly in a Snapchat post.
‘Today at Brauer they made every guy stand up and apologise to every girl for rape, sexual assault,’ the student said.
‘Guys go through as much s**t as girls do.’
Brauer College Principal Jane Boyle said the apology part of the assembly was ‘inappropriate’ but defended the school’s intentions.
A male student was also critical about having to apologise for his gender in an angry Snapchat post
‘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,’ she said in a statement.
‘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.
A mother of a Year 7 pupil in the assembly Danielle Shephard said her son was confused why he had to apologise
‘In retrospect, while well-intended, we recognise that this part of the assembly was inappropriate.’
One mother said on Facebook their son had told her the exercise was simply 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 – Braeur won’t be the only one.’
The assembly came just days after Wesley College in Melbourne was hit with claims some of its male students were ranking female students ‘based on their looks’.
Multiple harassment and assault allegations have been levelled by students at the school.
Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino has since moved to make teaching consent compulsory in all government schools from next month.
The initiative previously did not explicitly direct schools to teach consent and instead focused on relationships, sexuality and safety.
Consent classes will soon be made mandatory for students in Victorian state schools (stock image)
From term two, the directive will compel state schools to teach the government’s Respectful Relationships training on free agreements.
Mr Merlino said Victoria and other states should not be complacent on ensuring consent was taught well in classrooms.
‘Respectful Relationships is proven to make a real difference and is a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Family Violence,’ the education minister said in a statement on Sunday.
‘It is a program that should be rolled out nationwide. But we have to listen to students, who say they want and need a greater focus on this issue in the classroom.
Brisbane Boys’ College captain Mason Black stood in front of his peers last Thursday and told them he ‘feels sick’ about the claims of sexual assault and that the ‘narrative needs to change’
‘It is why we will mandate the teaching of consent in all government schools in an age-appropriate way.’
Mason Black stood in front of his peers last Thursday and told them he ‘feels sick’ about the claims of sexual assault and that the ‘narrative needs to change’.
‘It makes me feel sick and it makes me feel embarrassed that our school is featured in the testimonies of young women who are victims of sexual assault,’ he said.
Brisbane Boys’ College is another of several schools in Australia that has been named in testimonies from private and public school girls who say they were either sexually assaulted, harassed or raped.
Mr Black said sexual assault was an issue that hit close to home with his family: ‘My own mother, at the age of 10, against her will, was sexually abused before she learned about the birds and bees’
Thousands of school girls shared their experiences after Kambala School alumni Chanel Contos, 22, launched a petition on February 18, demanding students be taught about consent
The petition kickstarted by Ms Contos demands consent be included earlier in sexuality education
Thousands of schoolgirls shared their experiences after Kambala School alumni Chanel Contos, 22, launched a petition on February 18, demanding students be taught about consent.
Mr Black said his mother had been sexually abused when she was a little girl, and later told Channel 7’s Sunrise he only found out by searching her name on Google.
‘My own mother, at the age of 10, against her will, was sexually abused before she learned about the birds and bees,’ he said.
‘Are you brave enough to ask your mum about her experiences?’ He said.
‘What about your sisters? Friends? You shouldn’t have to ask women these questions.’
