Opinion
By cancelling Mother’s Day, this school is so inclusive it excludes mums
Brad Emery
Freelance writerWe’re cancelling Mother’s Day. Sorry Mum, but apparently all the work you did and the sacrifices you made to make my life, my sister’s life, the life of your granddaughter and all those you’ve been a mother figure to over the years are no longer worthy of being singled out for recognition.
Teachers – who have obviously contributed more to society than mothers – at a private school near Newcastle have decided that the best way to praise the contribution of all mothers in their school community and recognise the sacrifices they make for their kids is to cancel their special day and invent something new that is so “inclusive” it means nothing to anyone.
Hunter Valley Grammar School.Credit: Google Maps
Hunter Valley Grammar School has cancelled its Mother’s Day gift stall for children in K-6 and replaced it with a “Family Gift Stall”. According to the promotion provided to parents, “the purpose of the stall is to celebrate loved ones … Students have the special job of choosing a gift with their loved ones in mind.”
Some of the mothers with children at the school were reportedly quite hurt that the specialness of Mother’s Day was being watered down to an insipid celebration of “families”.
“Please don’t take away our special day,” one mother apparently wrote to the school.
According to parents, it was explained that it was based on feedback from parts of the school community that came from non-traditional families and did not have a mum present in their lives. In other words, not everyone has a mum. Correct.
Woke up and smell the roses. Credit: iStock
By the same token, not everyone has someone in their family who has served their country in the military. By the logic of the cancel cadres, should we therefore change ANZAC Day to Thanks Day, where we celebrate all our loved ones who have done something for the country at some stage?
In any given year, it would no doubt be the case that not everyone has a “special someone” in their lives. Should Valentine’s Day therefore be renamed Cheap Gift Day – a day when we “celebrate the commercialisation of society by purchasing something that tastes nice, smells nice or looks nice for someone we know”? Preferably something so cheap that it can be either re-gifted or thrown out the next day.
Not everyone is Irish, or Roman Catholic, or has a particular dislike of snakes. Should St Patrick’s Day therefore be renamed Green Day? Oh, wait, that’s already taken.
The banality of the cancel movement in all its forms can be summed up as the vain pursuit of making everyone feel special so that eventually no one does. A watery, bland, beige society where no one is celebrated in case any single person feels left out and – heaven forbid – someone needs to feel a negative emotion and work through it, perhaps enlightening themselves in the process.
Under the guise of “inclusivity”, the cancel movement is hurting real people. In the case of Hunter Valley Grammar School, it is mothers who have dedicated their lives to their children.
Of course not everyone has a mum, is a mum or even wants to be a mum. This in no way devalues mothers’ relevance, nor their value as individuals, nor their potential to contribute to society.
In fact, until the cancel brigade started its march on the institution of motherhood, I’d wager there were very few people to whom Mother’s Day was not really relevant who gave two hoots about the rest of the community taking one day out of the year to make their mum feel special.
If our academics and teachers really want to foster inclusivity among our children, they should strive to excel at providing fundamental education to all kids, so all kids have a chance to build a future.
Engaging in thought-bubble, cancel-culture activities is a sure way to confuse our kids and make thousands of our loved ones feel forgotten.
Brad Emery is a freelance writer and former staffer in the Howard government.