School Forced Its Male Students To Stand In Front Of The Females And Apologize For Their Gender

Some parents of male students at a school in Australia are seething after their sons were forced to stand up in assembly and apologize to their female classmates on behalf of their gender.

The incident happened at Brauer College, a senior school in Warrnambool, Victoria, on Wednesday. One parent, Danielle Shephard, who has a 12-year-old son at the school, told 7News her son was feeling confused after being told to apologize.

"He said that he was made to stand up and basically apologize… It wasn't explained properly to the male students what they were doing or why they were doing it," she said.

The news came after James Merlino, acting premier and education minister in the state of Victoria, announced that lessons about consent would become mandatory in state schools in Victoria from next month—in an expansion of the Victorian government's "Respectful Relationships" program.

The consent classes were announced amid a national conversation about the sexual harassment of girls, sparked in part by multiple allegations of assault and harassment on campus from students at Wesley College, a top private school in Melbourne.