BY GRANT COLEMAN
WOLLONGONG
— Fifteen students from six local high schools came together on October
28 to form the Illawarra High School Student Social Action Network.
The network was formed to “encourage students to call for human rights,
equality and social justice to be a priority above profits”, founding member
Simon Cunich, who is an activist in the socialist youth organisation Resistance,
told Green Left Weekly.
The network is the result of many months of campaigning by high school
students in the Illawarra in support of refugees and against war and Third
World poverty. Informal networking among high school activists began when
students at The Illawarra Grammar School (TIGS), including Cunich, attempted
to build an Illawarra-wide contingent to the June 23 refugee rights' protest
in Sydney.
“Following the June 23 protest the TIGS Social Action Group organised
two events for the August 26 anniversary of the Tampa crisis”, Cunich
said. “We organised a public meeting at school that attracted 400 students
to hear from a refugee speaker. For the anniversary itself we organised
a lunch-time commemoration with a school band and a speaker from a Sydney
high school.”
According to Cunich, the network “got legs” when TIGS students called
for a high school demonstration on October 18. “This is when we first really
started attracting students from other schools. We got students from five
schools to help plan and build the protest and it was a success, attracting
50-60 students. It was completely organised by high school students. We
organised the bands, the speakers, the leaflets and the media. We even
got coverage from radio station Triple J.”
Although the October 18 protest was nominally organised by High School
Students for Refugees, it quickly became clear that students wanted to
act on other issues — in particular, in opposition to a war on Iraq.
Cunich believes that all high-school students have a duty to stop this
war. “As young people we can't be complacent about something that could
affect the future of peace so profoundly. We see a huge potential for the
global justice movement amongst high-school students, so this is a perfect
opportunity.”
The network is organising a contingent to take part in Sydney protests
against the World Trade Organisation on November 14. “War is simply corporate
globalisation with its gloves off”, Cunich said. “If the corporate rulers
of the world can't get what they want through the International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank and the WTO then they resort to military might.
“The walkout will be a powerful message that high school students are
willing to leave their classrooms and be a part of the movement that calls
for an end to the ongoing war against the Third World.”
Laura Ealing, another network member and student at TIGS, told GLW
that “there have been obstacles that we've had to overcome. Getting
people involved and interested in the issue has been a challenge at times,
but the network wants to lead the way for other young people to stand up
for the things they believe in, and show that we do care, that we can think
for ourselves and that we can make a difference.”
From Green Left Weekly, November 13, 2002.
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