Parkdale Secondary College:’Oppressor’ activity will never be repeated

Youth workers will be told to stick to the script after Melbourne school boys were shamed during a diversity and inclusion talk.

A 40 second activity that outraged a school community and led to calls for a youth worker to be sacked was the result of a “significant error of judgment”, a legal review has found.

The investigation by Hunt and Hunt Lawyers revealed a Kingston Council worker went off script when she called Year 11 Parkdale Secondary College boys “oppressors”.

The “off the cuff” comment came during an April 21 talk at the school as part of the Kingston Youth Services-run program on diversity and inclusion.

Angry parents later called for the youth worker to be sacked amid claims she had unfairly targeted their sons for being white boys.

According to the review the youth worker asked students to stand if they were white, straight males from Christian influenced households.

“When some students clapped this statement, the presenter responded with an unscripted off-the-cuff comment ‘No, that’s not what we’re doing here. The problem with having the most privilege is you’re also the biggest oppressor,” the review states.

“No-one else knew about the activity and consequently the school is not responsible for, nor endorsed the activity or subsequent comments.”

The review found that the activity was not intended to shame the students, make them feel uncomfortable or to be malicious in any way.

However, it was unwise and an error of judgment.

Hunt and Hunt recommended greater supervision of presentation content, including activities, and working from a script for controversial issues to ensure consistent messaging and quality control.

Kingston interim chief executive Tim Tamlin said the council was “deeply sorry that the presentation had caused hurt to students and parents”, and committed to making all the changes recommended to ensure it never happened again.

“The intention of our Diversity and Inclusion program has always been to bring people together, so everyone is included, heard and understood,” said Mr Tamlin.

“The independent review found the positive intent of the hour-long presentation was unfortunately lost due to a one-minute unscripted section. We will be taking immediate steps recommended under the review to prevent this from occurring again.”

Staff would receive extra training before any school programs were resumed.

“We want students, parents, teachers and the wider community to be confident that any programs being delivered in our schools are respectful, non-judgemental and carefully considered,” Mr Tamlin said.