A confronting investigation uncovering significant religious bullying in Australian schools for most major faith groups has found “rampant” levels of vilification in the classroom and playground, with families and schools “ill-equipped” to deal with the abuse levelled at children.
The four-year investigation, led by academics Zehavit Gross and Suzanne Rutland, cited disturbing instances of bullying against Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Christian students in Australian schools in a series of interviews with teachers, families and children, arguing that school principals are often unwilling to acknowledge the extent of religious discrimination.
The study, to be released next week at a conference in Sydney, will urge state and federal education departments to increase spending on resources to combat religious discrimination in schools, saying parents and children are often forced to “downplay” episodes of vilification, fearing the situation could be made worse “if they make a fuss”.
Sydney University’s Professor Rutland said the project had exposed “disturbing cases” of religious vilification across schools in Melbourne and Sydney, arguing acts of violence fuelled by religious or racial hate had become increasingly common.
Read the article by Nicholas Jensen in The Australian.