Teen failed for stand on gays
A 13-YEAR-OLD student was failed after she refused to write an assignment on life in a gay community, because of her religious and moral beliefs.Her outraged mother, Christian groups and the State Opposition want an investigation into the treatment of the Year 9 student at Windaroo Valley State High School, south of Brisbane.
"It's no wonder our kids are struggling with the basics when the Government is allowing this sort of rubbish to be taught in the classroom," Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney told The Sunday Mail yesterday.
The uproar came as Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop this week announced plans for Canberra to take control of school curriculums from the states, accusing "ideologues" of hijacking the education system .
The girl was among a class of 13 and 14-year-olds asked to imagine living as a heterosexual among a mostly homosexual colony on the moon as part of their health and physical education subject.
They had to answer 10 questions, including how they felt about being in the minority and what strategies they would use to help them cope.
They were also asked to discuss where ideas about homosexuality came from.
Sources said the students were told not to discuss the assignment with their parents and that it was to be kept in-class.
They said many of the students were uncomfortable with the subject matter or did not understand the questions.
The 13-year-old girl instantly refused to do the assignment on religious and moral grounds.
"It is against my beliefs and I am not going there," she told the teacher, who responded by failing her.
After a series of discussions between the school and her mother, it was suggested the girl would be better off leaving the state education system and attending an independent school.
The girl's mother said yesterday she did not learn of the assignment until reading her daughter's report card several weeks later and discovered a first-ever fail mark for health and physical education.
posted by jihad johnson @ 8:40 PM
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1 Comments:
And the facts are...!
Document #1
Union Reps Update - 10 October 2006 - No. 02-06
To QTU Representatives (please provide a copy to the Principal)
For Information and action
QTU & Teachers refute Sunday Mail "story"
Many of you may have seen a report in last Sunday's edition of The Sunday Mail about a student at Windaroo Valley State High School allegedly "failing" because the student refused to undertake a task due to religious beliefs. The story is just that: a story, which is both wildly inaccurate and shamelessly sensationalist.
The QTU's options in responding to this outright media attach - typical of those media outlets which toe the Federal Government's extreme ideological line in everything from workplace relations to education - are limited, as we are reluctant to draw further spurious media attention to the family involved.
However, it is important that the teachers at Windaroo have the support of their colleagues throughout Queensland after this victimisation by the media. To correct a few glaring falsehoods:
* The assignment was an in-class Health and Physical Education lesson activity. This task did not form part of the student's semester assessment and therefore did not contribute to this students failure in HPE. The task is part of the QSA syllabus, support materials and associated tasks that are used by both Queensland government and non-government schools.
* The "shock/horror/secrecy" alluded to in the article is a blatant falsehood, as the task was discussed with the student's parent at a parent-teacher interview earlier in the year.
Credit must go to the teachers at Windaroo, who have met and passed a series of strong resolutions to resist the spreading influence that an ultra-conservative minority is having on the broader school community. The resolutions are published on the QTU website www.qtu.asn.au. I encourage you and fellow members to read these resolutions, and consider their application to your own school environment, particularly in the current environment of teacher-bashing promulgated by the Prime Minister, Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop, and eagerly pursued by many media outlets. You may wish to forward your views to the Sunday Mail.
Queensland teachers in need of a morale booster should tune into Channel Seven, this Sunday (15 October 2006) at 10:00am to watch the Education Foundation Australian documentary "That Was Me." Inspired by Back to School Day, the documentary reminds all Australians that state schools produce outstanding citizens, with the help of inspiring students.
Authorised by:
John Battams
General Secretary
Document #2
9 October 2006
Is that true, or did you read it in The Sunday Mail?
Windaroo Valley State High School teachers are the latest victims in a concerted media attack on the teaching profession, after a sensationalist and ill-informed "report" published on 8 October. The teachers met on 9 October to pass the following resolutions. Click here to read the QTU's media release on the issue.
1. That this meeting condemns The Sunday Mail for publishing a highly sensational and inaccurate article in relation to Windaroo Valley State High School. In particular, it is not true that the student in question "was failed after she refused to write an assignment" as the "fail mark" for Health and Physical Education included in her Report Card was not in any way related to the "in school" task in question.
2. That this meeting condemns politicians for their ill-conceived comments on curriculum issues.
3. That this meeting re-affirms that the official QSA syllabus support materials and associated tasks referred to are used throughout Queensland, in both government and non-government schools.
4. That this meeting re-affirms the need for education to prepare students for life, including consideration of issues such as racial, religious and sexual tolerance.
5. That this meeting notes that each year the school informs parents of the nature of the HPE syllabus, including reference to human relationships and sex education.
6. That this meeting calls on the Queensland Government to resist attempts by extreme fundamentalist groups to force their views on Queenslanders via the school curriculum.
7. That this meeting calls on the Department of Education, Training and the Arts to authorise an official communication to all Windaroo Valley State High School parents informing them of the truth in relation to this issue.
8. That this meeting calls on the Queensland Teachers’ Union to make a public response in relation to the issue.
Document #3
9 October 2006
Is that true, or did you read it in The Sunday Mail?
Teachers at Windaroo Valley State High School met today to reaffirm their commitment to upholding the values of tolerance and understanding in their classrooms, despite recent ill-informed attacks by the media.
The teachers met with Queensland Teachers’ Union representatives today (Monday, 9 October) to discuss how to inform the general public about wild inaccuracies in a weekend report in The Sunday Mail, without exposing the family at the centre of the report to further intrusive media scrutiny.
Windaroo staff also called on the Queensland Government to confirm its stance of delivering sound education based on sensible educational practice, and to refuse to be harangued by extreme ideological interest groups - including the Federal Government.
QTU President Steve Ryan said The Sunday Mail report was typical of the “teacher bashing” that was sapping the morale of teachers throughout the state, and ignored the fact that the official Queensland Studies Authority syllabus, support materials and associated tasks were used in all Queensland government and non-government schools.
“Attacking teachers at every opportunity, no matter how ill-founded the ‘evidence’, seems to be becoming an increasingly popular sport,” Mr Ryan said.
“The worst offenders are those media outlets which dance to the ultra-conservative tune whistled by the Federal Government.
“These outlets also echo the line of Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop that they are generating ‘debate’, yet, like the Federal Minister, fail to check their facts, fail to seek or publish comment from any different point of view, and fail to heed any research that does not support their simplistic, sensationalist and negative angles.
“Even worse, both the Minister and her pet media are prepared to exploit individuals to score political points, knowing full well that teachers are extremely reluctant to publicly comment on individual cases to avoid risking upset to children and their families.”
Mr Ryan said that such relentlessly critical treatment from the Minister and the media was threatening the teaching profession’s retention and attraction rates.
“Throughout Queensland, our members are reporting a drop in morale directly attributable to public comments made by Ms Bishop and her carping cronies: teachers who were once committed to and passionate about their chosen career are feeling increasingly professionally depressed working in an environment the Federal Minister has labelled guilty until proven innocent,” Mr Ryan said.
The resolutions passed today by teachers at Windaroo Valley State High School, likely to be picked up by teachers around the state, are published on the QTU’s website www.qtu.asn.au.
For more information, contact:
Steve Ryan (President) 3512 9000
Nicole Mathieson (Media Officer) 3512 9000 or 0400 500 393
Media release available online at: www.qtu.asn.au
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