EDIT: Apparently the petition being circulated around the government backbench has gone missing.
Here’s a surprise for our readers: Conservative politicians declare a review into Safe Schools is “a joke”, a “stitch up” and “a fraud.”.
Fairfax reports the review of Safe Schools, performed by Emeritus Professor Bill Louden of the University of Western Australia has not fallen on sympathetic ears.
The review was intended to be educational in nature; to query whether the program was consistent with the national curriculum and government policy. But immediately after Tuesday night’s meeting, conservatives condemned the report as inadequate, too narrow and too hasty.
Louden concluded the programme should continue with only a few small alterations. The reaction is unsurprising based on the track records of those who criticised and misrepresented the programme (none of whom were named in the report; you can probably fill in the blanks), where they’ve made a conclusion that the programme is BAD, BAD, THINK OF THE CHILDREN, BAD, and nothing is going to change their minds. It’s confirmation bias, where a conclusion is made before data is collected and analysed, like disliking vanilla ice cream and declaring it’s bad and evil and should be banned.
Par for the course, really.
