By CASEY NEILL
DANDENONG West Primary School is tackling family violence before it has a chance to start.
The 30-plus guests at the school’s White Ribbon Day breakfast on Tuesday 25 November signed an oath to stop violence against women.
“My hope is that we will all challenge gender stereotypes and that we won’t remain silent,” principal Bev Hansen said.
Teacher Ivan Araujo said the event was about kick-starting awareness and that addressing family violence was new for the primary school sector.
Dandenong West Primary School recently conducted a survey to assess student attitudes to family violence and associated issues, and found some girls didn’t feel valued.
“We’re working to address the issues that result in family violence,” Mr Araujo said.
“We’re trying to address stereotypes of masculinity and femininity.”
He said the topic was too sensitive to directly discuss with children so teachers would use ‘circle time’ activities to subtly introduce concepts.
“Teachers start the day with a circle with the kids,” he said.
“They have a fun activity, talk about the weekend, how they’re feeling.”
The school will continue to collect data throughout the year and conduct a full survey again in 12 months to see how attitudes have changed.
“It’s also equipping staff with the knowledge to challenge these stereotypes in the playground or wherever they see it,” he said.
“If this works, it could be implemented in other primary schools.
“That’s what we’re hoping – that it’s effective.”
Casey Interfaith Network president and White Ribbon Ambassador Jim Reiher told the breakfast that children witnessed 65 per cent of the family violence committed in Victoria.
“What are we teaching our little boys?” he said.
He showed a White Ribbon Campaign video featuring children sharing what they wanted to be when they grew up.
A little girl saying “I’m going to end up in hospital because my husband beats me” stunned the audience.
“No child dreams of being violent,” Mr Reiher said.
“We can stop violence before it starts.”
He said family violence stemmed from gender stereotypes, power imbalances between men and women, and a culture of men resolving conflict with violence.
He urged teachers to lead by example – especially male teachers in how they relate to women – refuse to reinforce rigid stereotypes and teach non-violent alternatives to problem solving.
Mr Reiher said he’d seen widespread improvements in littering, road safety and smoking during his lifetime.
“We change attitudes of whole communities,” he said.
