Queensland Police Service Showcase
Mareeba State High School - Community Education Counsellor view
Hardships in this community can be easily mistaken as a black-white issue. My background is testament to differ - as a local from a well-known aboriginal family, married to a 'white' person, who sent her sons to a private Primary school to be with their neighborhood mates - I experienced isolation and racist slurs. This was the first time I had ever experienced racism. Coming from my own people - I was shocked. I was not seen to be participating in the activities - sporting or social - that they were. Through sport, years later, when my children joined the local rugby league team where I was able to equip all the aboriginal children in my sons' teams, at my own expense, with uniforms so that they could participate, and through voluntary work at the High School, I was finally accepted.
Acceptance in this community is easier today. This can be directly attributed to Truancy and Graffiti [TAG] in recent years. Acceptance - through generosity, support and understanding with TAG has brought this community together and has moved it forwards towards a brighter future.
My involvement with TAG is primarily as Community Education Counsellor at Mareeba State High School, but also as an aboriginal person who is passionate about assisting the children of this community. As Community Education Counsellor my role is in the pastoral care, well-being and support for the aboriginal and islander students whilst they are enrolled at the school. This role involves contact with the families, students, teaching, administration and support staff at the school in taking an holistic approach to the education of these students. My support is extended to any child that is in need.
In the past two years since the inception of TAG:
- Children are individuals with individual needs and individual learning styles. TAG was initiated through a need to get children off the street that had been truant or absent from school for some time - some for up to two years. Home visits by the school and police were ineffective. As a consequence, when these children were returned to schooling through the TAG initiative, sitting in a classroom and conforming was out of the question. This would have been a recipe for disaster for these students and the other students who did not need the level of disruption that this would have created. Alternative learning programs were needed. Through consultation with the community, in which TAG has been instrumental, we have been able to think outside the square from traditional classrooms. Different levels of learning environments have been created to suit individual needs and learning patterns - classrooms without walls where learning is achieved through activities and life skill experiences, mainstream classrooms with extra-curricular activities extended onto core learning areas, through to supported learning in traditional classes. This spectrum has provided a pathway to learning that suits the individual.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are seeing the adults involved in TAG as individuals. They are getting to know these people on a personal basis, not as the station they represent. For example, Julie as a person and not as 'The Deputy Principal', Alan as a person and not as 'The Senior Sergeant'. These adults are community leaders from a broad range of public and private sector organizations - people they would not normally approach or even come in contact with socially until TAG was formed. These children are learning to trust and respect these people as individuals. This is not easy and cannot be created overnight. The children are amazed that people are taking the time to care about them.
- As the children are learning to trust these people, their parents are as well. The problems are generational. Perceptions, distrust, labeling and community bias have not happened overnight. The perception of the school and the police as organisations of authority and judgment is gradually changing. Changing to perceptions of organizations made up of people who are prepared to listen and support. This has been evident in the increased number of parents entering the school gate and joining the TAG activities with their children.
- Opportunities have been created through TAG for these children to travel outside their community and experience life outside the boundaries of the Mareeba Township. Where they may have perceived or really experienced labeling in their community - outside the community they get to be treated just as kids, without any preconceived bias or expectations. Previously experiences outside Mareeba were through school-based camps and activities. While open to all children - these come at a financial cost and are not always accessible to the children who are not in control of the purse strings. Families who would like to provide these opportunities also have to balance the finances between these opportunities and basic needs - education, food and clothing. The choice is not always possible. When only 10% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community is employed, the financial burdens in this sector are high.
- Small rural communities do not have the range of recreational options available to children and youth without the commitment and ability of parents to travel. Some of these children and youth do not have access to transport and have to rely on the opportunity available in their own town. TAG has been able to create some opportunities outside of Mareeba, but has also created a sustainable set of opportunities within this town. The inaugural 'Murri Day Out',sponsored in part by TAG, but run as a community event is a clear example of locals doing something for local kids. This event was open to all children, with an emphasis on aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children inviting all children to join them for two days of fun and entertainment through sport. This is the sort of activity that highlights reconciliation through positive action.
- Nutrition is directly related to the ability of children to perform in the classroom. Through TAG and ASSPA, with the generosity of local businesses, I can see the direct benefits that breakfast and lunch programs have made. Attention spans have increased, children are not irritable and distracted, and attendance has improved. The breakfast program, in particular, has created a social atmosphere. Teenagers from diverse backgrounds are gathering in the mornings and acknowledging each other. Barriers have been broken down easily in this informal setting.
- Uniforms in any organization provide a way of creating an even playing field. Uniforms in school make the divide between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' less apparent. Aboriginal Student Support and Parental Awareness [ASSPA] and the School have been able to provide uniforms for any child to access when students do not have the ability to access these at home for whatever reason. Some children do not have their own bedrooms, they do not have a cupboard to keep their personal possessions in - uniforms and other school resources are lost in communal living.
- TAG has provided awareness programs on substance abuse. These programs have been presented in informal settings - BBQs and sporting activities - where the children and youth are not intimidated and are more receptive to the information. Success from this has been seen with decreases in these activities and, more importantly, a freedom with the kids reporting these activities to concerned adults without fear of judgment and peer pressure.
TAG deserves recognition, it has created more than just bringing truant kids to school and preventing graffiti in this town - it has created the potential for a future for this town. The school motto - 'Working Together to Build a Better Future' could not be more evident than in the relationship between the school and other participants in TAG. I am very proud to be a member of this team.
Contact person:
Elma Lingard
Community Education COUNSELLOR
Mareeba State High School.
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