Conference to tackle bullying starts Monday

Friday 13 October 2006

The Rock and Water program, which targets self-confidence and self-esteem among young people, and has contributed to a 600 per cent increase in enrolments at an Indigenous school in Queensland, will be the focus of a University of Newcastle conference next week.

The conference, to be hosted by the University's Family Action Centre, is the first of its kind in Australia to focus on the highly successful Rock and Water program, which tackles the pressing issues of bullying and violence.

Presenter Jean Illingworth will tell the conference how the Rock and Water program was successfully implemented at Queensland's Djarragun College after she became school principal.

In 2001, only 66 students turned up to school on her first day. Their behaviour was so wild that it was impossible to teach them or assess their academic levels. Five years later, with 465 students, the atmosphere is completely different.

Jean will discuss the part that Rock and Water played in bringing about these extraordinary changes. She said that through the program, students had learned to be tough at the right moments (to be a 'rock'), but to be gentle and kind when an occasion or a person called for such behaviours (to be 'water').

Rock and Water offers teachers a new way to interact with boys through physical exercises linked with mental and social skills. It works with the boys' strengths to develop self-awareness and self-esteem, leading to greater self-confidence and a reduction in aggression and bullying.

Over 10,000 participants have been trained to deliver the program to students since the program was introduced to Australia seven years ago from the Netherlands.

The inaugural Australian Rock and Water conference will involve more than 20 presentations highlighting successful implementation and evaluation of the program. It also showcases stories of the Rock and Water program in a variety of settings, from Indigenous, rural, and urban primary and secondary schools to youth detention centres.

The conference will be held on Monday 16 October at Newcastle City Hall from 9am until 6pm. Media is invited to attend.

A conference program is available at the conference website.

To organise interviews with speakers, contact Camilla McQualter, Family Action Centre, on 4921 7743.