Quarterly Essay: Quarterly Essay 67 Moral Panic 101 (ePub)

Are Australian schools safe? And if they’re not, what happens when kids are caught in a bleak collision between ill-equipped teachers and a confected scandal?

In 2016, the Safe Schools program became the focus of an ideological firestorm. InMoral Panic 101, BenjaminLaw explores how and why this happened. He weaves a subtle, gripping account ofschools today, sexuality, teenagers,newideas of gender fluidity,media scandal and mental health.

In this timely essay, Law also looks at the new face of homophobia in Australia, and the long battle for equality andacceptance. Investigatingbullying of the vulnerable young, he brings to light hidden worlds, in an essay notable for itshumane clarity.

“To read every article the Australian has published on Safe Schools is to induce nausea. This isn’t even a comment on the content, just the sheer volume … And yet, across this entire period, the Australian– self-appointed guardian of the safety of children– spoke to not a single school-aged LGBTIQ youth. Not even one. Later, queer teenagers who followed the Safe Schools saga told me the dynamic felt familiar. At school, it’s known as bullying. In journalism, it’s called a beat-up.” —Benjamin Law, Moral Panic 101

Benjamin Law is the author of Gaysia and the memoir The Family Law, which he adapted for SBS TV. A columnist for Fairfax’s Good Weekend magazine, Law has written for the Monthly, Frankie, QWeekend, the Big Issue, Crikey and Griffith Review.