A decision from Newington College to begin the process of becoming co-educational in 2026 has sparked white hot outrage from parents at the elite all-boys school in Sydney’s inner-west.
On Wednesday morning, the first day of school in 2024 for students at Newington College, dozens of parents gathered outside the gates of the school, holding signs to protest the decision.
One parent accused the school of lying to families of the college. Another cited the “woke” agenda infiltrating society as the reason for the decision. Another was even brought to tears over the change.
Since the call was made in November 2023, parents created a change.org petition, which so far has received nearly 2,500 signatures.
A decision to (checks notes) let girls enrol at a school has shown just how passionate families who are wealthy enough for the $40,000 a year in school fees are about sticking with “tradition”.
But after hearing their point of view, I think some need to be brought back down to earth.
Below are the slogans, comments and arguments of the parents protesting yesterday – met with a much needed reality check.
‘Why after 160 years?’
Well, boys, the society we live in didn’t appear out of thin air. For decades, women weren’t allowed to vote, walk on the street alone, drink in the pub, open a bank account – until women fought and changed the way things were.
Change, believe it or not, often occurs in the pursuit of a better society. Of course, it’ll offend those in power the most – it can feel threatening when you hold that much privilege. But don’t be alarmed! Change-makers don’t want excess power and privilege – we just want change.
‘Boys will become second-class citizens in their own school.’
According to statistics from UNICEF, around 129 million girls are out of school. In low-income countries, just 36 per cent of girls will finish high school, compared to 44 per cent of boys. In countries that are affected by fragility, conflict and violence, girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys.
Girls are systematically excluded from school in many parts of the world, and when they stand up against the system and fight for an education, they are met with ridicule, oppression and in many instances violence.
Case in point: Malala Yousafzai – at 11 years old, she spoke publicly on women and girls’ right to education. One day, on her way home from school, she was shot by the Taliban on the left side of her head – just for wanting her and hundreds of other girls to go to school.
Even in Australia, in her work to introduce consent education at school, advocate Chanel Contos received more than 6,5000 testimonies of women and girls who were assaulted by men and boys – many of whom attended these elite all-boys schools.
Should Newington College proceed with the decision to become co-ed, girls enrolling in the school will be entering an environment where, at best, they’re not welcome and, at worst, they’re in danger of being harassed, assaulted or raped.
Reality check for the parents at Newington: that is what being a second-class citizen is like.
‘Co-ed = less diversity.’
I’m not really sure how to respond to this one, other than saying it is completely and utterly nonsensical.
‘I’m an old boy of this school, my son is also an old boy, and the intention was always I’d have a grandson… but I won’t bring him to a co-ed school.’
The waterworks were impressive, I must admit. My answer to Tony? Don’t send your grandson to a co-ed school. No one is forcing you, except presumably your desire to carry on the legacy of the men in the family.
But in case you didn’t know, that desire was conditioned by the patriarchy and old patriarchal “traditions” – traditions which have oppressed women for centuries.
‘I’m just afraid that it’s all part of this sort of woke, toxic masculinity type palava.’
Correct!
We’ve seen so many incidents, scandals and, in some cases, criminal activity at all-boys private schools. Most of the time, it’s fostered by the environment of the school itself, an incubator for toxic masculinity.
Professor Martin Crotty’s research in 2001, covered in his book Making the Australian Male: Middle-class masculinity 1870-1920, found boys were pressured to reach the heights of “real men” and conform to the standards of masculinity in school settings. Whether it was on the playground, the sporting field or in dormitories, the environment of the all-boys school produced a generation of men with the ideals that being a man means being tough, domineering and violent.
Of course, that research was 20 years ago and it was looking at the generation of men from over 100 years ago. However, these ideals are passed on from generation to generation, from son to son.
What this parent should be more afraid of is the preservation of toxic masculinity, not the dismantling of it via the “woke agenda”.
‘I love the opportunity this school provides, and I would hate to see other boys stripped of that opportunity.’
What sort of opportunities does an all-boys school provide?
Is it academic benefits? No – the Australian Council for Educational Research confirmed there is “no value-add overtime to being a single-sex school compared to a coeducational school”, despite parents on the change.org petition arguing otherwise.
Is it social benefits? Can’t be – our society is no longer a boys-only one, although sometimes it may feel like that.
Is it a chance to preserve a culture of patriarchy, a tradition of exclusion of women, the ever-oppressing Boys Club? You bet it is.