Principal's Message

Raising Good Young Men

Over the last few weeks, amongst the constant news and updates about COVID-19, there has been a return to a focus on respect matters and consent education. This has emerged to the front of some news cycles as we reflect on the national consent movements from a year ago, the proposed consent education programs for schools are debated, and aspects surrounding respect for individuals continues to be sadly highlighted within our political circles. 

Once again, I have found the narrow view of many media reports and their eagerness to apportion blame for such societal issues, as particularly poor. The responsibility and indeed privilege of forming in our young people an awareness and deep respect for themselves, others, relationships and as appropriate, different aspects of consent and respect, falls to everyone within our society.

Primarily it is families, complemented by schools and their various programs, and our wider society in general, that seeks to instil such values in our children and young adults. The congruence and consistency of our message and example regarding these values go a long way in reinforcing them as expected and acceptable behaviours. The emergence of these issues in recent weeks should not signal finger pointing, but rather, challenge us all to reflect on whether we could do more to educate, demonstrate and encourage our boys (and girls) about consent and respect. I believe that we need to be more overt and unequivocal about what is acceptable and what isn’t and reinforce this regularly and as developmentally appropriate. This is a shared journey that we should take with our students and unite as one voice – families, school and wider society, to positively raise our young men.

At Trinity College, within specific curriculum context that is presented in Religious Education, Health Education and through a variety of Pastoral and Formation programs, aspects of respectful relationships, protective behaviours and consent are examined and taught regularly. Such lessons are further complemented by guest speakers and a targeted focus on particular themes. This year, across all year cohorts, the College has introduced elements of the Resilience Project. This wonderful program promotes students to engage in three key pillars proven to cultivate positive emotion, build resilience and promote respect - Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness (GEM). 

Of course, as a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice tradition, important Christian values about respecting the ‘dignity of others’ underpins the focus on acceptable behaviours and attitudes. The formal manner in which we follow the ‘Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum’ across all year levels certainly adds to this. Mindful of age appropriateness and developmental maturity, we regularly discuss these issues despite the difficulty of content. The underlying message being that respect for others and all aspects of consent are not negotiable. 

I present these school examples, not as evidence of any solution to such a complex social issue, but to illustrate our ongoing commitment to keep doing more to assist in the formation of good young men. As a College seeking continual improvement and open to reviewing our practices, programs and curriculum, we always invite student voice in checking the validity and currency of our work. Our Prefects have been particularly strong in driving such positive change and focus. Similarly, the feedback from you as parents is also welcomed and valued. It is in our combined efforts and shared purpose that we can confront and confidently challenge disrespect in thought, words or actions – about and towards any person, particularly young women.

Respectfully, I would ask you as parents to choose the right time and right context to have a conversation with your son about respectful relationships and consent. I appreciated that such a conversation needs to be carefully considered and could be somewhat awkward and even a little difficult. However, our young men deserve such conversations, our young women will appreciate them and our society needs them to occur.

As I have highlighted previously, it is vital that the home and the school enjoy a positive and meaningful partnership that is centred on the care, interests and formation of each student. By confronting such societal issues and challenging what is inherently wrong, we can seek to build a more positive future. We should be reminded that being Christian asks us to follow the ways of Christ. If that remains our focus and authentically guides our actions, we can be confident in developing a culture that nurtures the healthy formation of our young men. They are the future and we must always seek ways to encourage them to make such a future positive for everyone.

Live Jesus in our hearts.