Ainger Peck Public Speaking Award
Veronica Sanders, Head of English and EAL
On Wednesday 13th of May Winter Allen, Nina McKeever and Meera Rai competed in the heats of the Rotary Club of Richmond's annual public speaking competition, Ainger Peck Public Speaking Award. Running for the past 36 years, the award is open to all secondary students, aiming to develop confident and compelling speakers.
Held at Melbourne Girls College, the girls eagerly arrived early. They managed to get some words of wisdom from a Rotarian and stole a few moments to practice with the microphone before the night officially started. Our three year 8 competitors may have been some of the younger competitors there, but that did not hold them back against a highly competitive field with students from St Kevin’s College, MacRobertson High School, Suzanne Cory High School, Nossal High School, Northcote High School, Kew High School and others. Speaking about medical misogyny, the perils of social media and youth incarceration, the girls represented the school well and executed their speeches with finesse, demonstrating a maturity beyond their years.
Congratulations to all three competitors and especially Meera Rai who came home with the encouragement award on the night. Well done!
Below is a copy of Meera’s speech presented on the night:
BOOM!
That is the sound a young child hears when the cell door slams shut behind them.
Maybe they were hungry,
Maybe they were angry.
But the real question is: will a cold jail cell really teach them why they shouldn’t have done that and how to act in future?
Will it be effective?
Hi! My name is Meera and I am 13 years old. Like many of you here today, I am at an age where I could land in jail. So could one of my friends or classmates, or you, or you, or even you.
I am here to argue that raising or lowering the age of criminal responsibility is NOT an effective solution to youth crime!
Just six years ago, a young, disabled, Indigenous boy was held naked in a cell after refusing to wear a suicide smock. Is this truly what you want? Many kids who end up in detention centres are already struggling and jailing them will only cause more mental health issues, and interrupt their emotional development, education, and family relationships
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, youth crime is usually due to poverty, parental unemployment, residential instability, and child neglect. These are the root causes of youth crime, and these are the things that we need to focus on. Raising the age and leaving children and adolescents to commit crime as if it is normal is unacceptable. But, lowering it and punishing them for crimes our society pushed them towards is disgraceful. Many countries have tried going up or down, yet they still dwell on this topic, proving their failure.
The number changes, the problem remains.
Instead of asking “At what age can kids be locked up?” it is time to ask, “How can we help children live a life away from crime!”
For instance, First-nation led diversion programs are proven to lower mental health problems, and crime in Indigenous children. Why don't we create campaigns to show children why crime is not the way to go and raise funds to assist families in need.
I’m sure that many of you, watching me now, have a dream for your future.
Eventually, everyone has a dream and unless we consider the root causes of youth crime, many children will never accomplish that dream because of a trap in the crime system.
Behind every cell door that booms shut is a child or adolescent who simply needs help. Who simply needs safety. Who should not be thought of as a criminal.