Wellbeing & Engagement 

Respectful Relationships - Healthy Masculinity

I was fortunate enough to attend a Professional Learning session this week alongside our Respectful Relationships leader, Danielle Anderson. The presentation focused on 'Healthy Masculinity' and was run by Jesuit Social Services, who fund a group called The Men's Project. 

The Men's Project have completed significant research into 'Healthy Masculinity' and the societal, cultural and historical impacts on what makes a 'real man'. We took a deep dive into how the words we use and the values and beliefs we display (as educators - and parents) can shape our children and their atttitudes towards and acceptance of others.

The Men's Project presented an interesting concept of 'The Man Box' - that is, how society expects the male gender to 'be'. 

Common expectations were traits such as:

• Strong/tough
• In control/dominant
• Muscular
• Sporty
• Winner/alpha
• A belief that 'boys don't cry'

Whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with being any of these things, societal expectations are that men and boys be these things all the time - i..e they are stuck in this 'box' of pressure and expectation.This is an unrealistic, unhealthy and mentally draining expectation - and research has found that placing these expectations on young boys leads to a far higher rate of mental health issues.

What we need to do, is model to our children that whilst men and boys can be these things, it is also absolutely okay to not be anything of these things. We need to educate the current generation of youth that all people need to be accepted for who they are, and it's okay (and healthy!) to be vulnerable, have difficulties, not like sports, and so on.

Other data shared (from a research project involving 1000 respondents, representative of general society) included:

• Males do not ask for help - 73% of men surveyed stated that they should be able to work through personal/mental problems by themselves and wouldn't seek support
• 65% of males stated that the male should be the sole 'bread winner' and that they feel significant societal pressures to earn enough money to support a family
• 69% of males believe that 'society' tells them they have to act tough and hide feelings of nervousness and worry.
• Sadly and disturbingly, 20% of  respondents stated that it was okay to use aggression and violence against others to get respect if necessary.

The research also investigated links to mental health and risky behaviours. There was a clear decrease in negative outcomes for males whose responses showed they were living 'outside the box' - i.e. being open to vulnerability, believing that men can cry, being comfortable talking about emotions, and a general sense of acceptance of all people for who they are.

As a school, we are working hard to educate our students about genuine inclusion - i.e. acceptance of all individuals no matter what they look like, their needs/abilities, their cultural backgrounds, their beliefs, musical tastes, whether they like sport or not, and so on. We encourage you to have this conversation at home too -  the more we can share this message, the more positive our community will be and the more we can help reduce, or at least limit the growth, of mental health issues within our community.

Safety and Behaviour in the yard

With the weather warming up and students spending more time outside running around (which is great!), just a quick reminder that all students have a responsibility to ensure the safety of all others around them. 

Over the past two weeks, we have had an increase in minor injuries due to tackling. It is important all students know the rules that there is no tackling at school. This is mainly happening in games of football, but we are also seeing lots of grabbing/shoving/pushing in other chasey/tag type games. It is important all students understand that we do not put our hands on others in an aggressive or rough way, and that we respect personal space. If students are unable to follow this rule, despite many reminders, they will be asked to leave the oval and will miss out on play time.

Finally, a reminder that the oval is a shared space for our Year 1s to Year 6s.

Liam Sommers

Assistant Principal

Wellbeing and Engagement