‘Respectful relationships’ curriculum for Victorian schools

PICTURES of boys and girls doing the dishes and kicking the footy and examples of female firefighters and male receptionists will be used in a classroom push to end stereotypes.

Pictures of both boys and girls playing football will be included in classrooms. Picture: Andy Rogers

PICTURES of both boys and girls doing the dishes and kicking the footy, and examples of female firefighters and male receptionists, will be used in classrooms from prep in a push to smash gender stereotypes.

The State Government has released the new ­“respectful relationships” education curriculum to be mandatory at all state schools from 2017, one of the recommendations arising from the royal commission into ­family violence.

Preps will be taught the basic names of their private parts to equip them to report any abuse, and students of all ages educated in challenging male and female-based labels in the playground, classroom and workplace.

VCE students will be ­educated in “gender literacy” and taught terms such as pansexual, cisgender and transsexual, while year 7 and 8 pupils will learn the meaning of the word “intersex”.

Preps will be taught the basic names of their private parts. Picture: Thinkstock

The age-appropriate ­resources, developed by the Youth Research Centre and the University of Melbourne, aim to stop gender-based violence and discrimination, and to develop a better understanding of diversity.

One game teaches year 1 and 2 pupils that some kids have two mums or two dads.

Unequal pay, anger management, terms like transgender, transman and transwoman and the toll of insults based on sexual orientation are among other areas explored in the curriculum.

The dangers of pornography will be taught from the first year of secondary school, including the rising levels of ­violence and its influence on attitudes towards sex.

Education Minister James Merlino launched the curriculum and said education was the key to ending “the vicious cycle of family ­violence”.

“This is about teaching our children to treat everyone with ­respect and dignity so we can start the cultural change we need in our society to end the scourge of family violence,” he said.

Year 1 and 2 students are encouraged to chant statements such as: “Girls can play football, can be doctors and can be strong”, and “boys can cry when they are hurt, can be gentle, can be nurses and can mind babies”.

“Research shows that children become aware of gender at an early age, being well aware of gender norms, and making efforts to fit within gendered expectations by the time they are in kindergarten,” the ­material says.

“As young children learn about gender, they may also begin to enact sexist values, or stereotypical beliefs and attitudes. They may, for example, insist that some games are for boys and others for girls, and actively reject peers from certain games.”

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