#16DaysOfActivism
Broadford Primary School year five students decorated t-shirts with slogans about respect on Thursday, as part of the school’s Respect Week.
Other activities during the week included students dressing in orange, respect trees, a schoolwide respect family breakfast and respect rocks.
Students discussed what respect meant to them, which led to creating ideas for t-shirts.
The school’s youth worker James Pateras coordinated Respect Week alongside assistant principal Christine Hyde.
Mr Pateras said the program began last year to address the extraordinarily high impact family violence had on the community and identifying the role respect played in those situations.
“Obviously it’s a community issue but as part of the community, we’re trying to do our part as well,” he said.
“I guess the thing that kind of kicked it off was working in wellbeing, the impact that family violence is having on the kids in our school which is really, really significant.
“So we’re just trying to do something that’s a little bit more broad and community-focused around it, rather than just kind of dealing with the fallout individual to individual.”
Mitchell Shire Council also supported Respect Week, suggesting the t-shirt activity and supplying the materials funded through Respect Victoria’s grassroot initiative.
In its second year, Mr Pateras said it was noticeable how the message of respect was being welcomed and understood by the students.
“I think that every year it’s become more normal – that message of ‘respect’ the first year we did it, it was really well received by our community but it’s kind of become an entrenched message now,” he said.
“That message of respect has become a core part of growing up as well. It also aligns with what they do in class. There’s a respectful relationships program that all schools do and this ties in really nicely.”
Gender equality officer for Mitchell Shire Council Abby Eager said the t-shirt initiative was a great activity for the students to participate in.
“It’s something we’ve always done and it’s mainly been a Beveridge Community Centre initiative,” she said.
“When James reached out, I thought it was a great way visually to show the kids as well as getting them to talk about respect.
“We’re just talking about respectful relationships and showing respect and starting those discussions from a young age because we know gender equality is mainly the reason why family violence occurs so it’s important to understand that respect.
“I don’t think you’re ever too young to learn about respect and I think that’s pretty simple.
“Bringing up kids respectfully and showing that equity and being inclusive is just simple. It should be a human right and it shouldn’t be something we have to beg for.
“Down the line, gender equality will stop our family violence rates, which is important because it is significantly high in Mitchell Shire.”
