Bra Boys Film - Look at the real story of hope!

I recently read some of the comments regarding the ‘Bra Boys’ of Sydney that hit me like a metaphorical sledge hammer; I couldn’t get over of the absurdly uniformed judgemental opinions but then I realised why. It’s simply ignorance and a typical middle class response to a subject where the entire knowledge base is drawn from tabloid journals with their own agenda.

I have always had a compassion for those who haven’t had the same opportunities as I but admit I too have been judgemental; this fundamentally changed when I became a teacher, forty and a single father of two. I started off in middle class schools but I had a burning desire to work with kids who don’t have the same opportunities as my own. It was quite a shock; I worked in schools which were virtually ‘white’ to schools that were ‘Asian’ and everything in between. I was at one particularly challenging school which on occasion’s experiences events and situations which were totally new to me; namely violence and gangs.

Australia isn’t all leafy eastern suburbs where kids go on to do better than their parents. I think the class system is no longer so much about money but values; I suppose even where we live bring us back to values because of similar ideals and we feel awkward in an environment that doesn’t resemble our own. I’m not saying this is judgemental; it’s just who we are and the values we were brought up with. I detest violence and until I commenced working in ‘known’ areas had never experienced it. Amongst several violent experiences I have been assaulted while walking to get lunch because I didn’t get off the crossing fast enough for a speeding driver.

What I want people to try and understand is that we are a product of our environment and parents; it’s called socialisation. But now all the fuss is about a group of surfers labelled a ‘gang’ which is trying to lift itself from these stereotypical labels we give them and the vulnerable young who may have parents who on occasions have also failed them out of what they realised was a perpetual cycle of an underclass. I also encourage anyone to do some reading on ‘generational poverty’. These ‘Bra Boys’ are showing some of the most at risk that a ‘gang’ does not have to be about crime, poverty and some kind of despot group who inflict harm on the community. If they were middle class they would be a club or society, even a ‘surf club’ but because of who they are and where they come from they are a ‘gang’. We need to be better informed and understanding.

Rusty
Russell Blore