Meeting with secondary students at Doomadgee State School, 6 October 1999 - notes
Approximately 20 students, both boys and girls, attended. They were asked to identify
- what they liked about their school
- what they disliked about their school
- what they would like to change about their school.
The following issues were raised.
School attendance
"A lot of kids don't come to school. They go down to the river and hang out there."
"Some kids don't ever come to school, mainly older kids."
"If we don't turn up at class nobody comes looking for us."
"Parents are not encouraging their children to come to school."
Teachers
"Some of the teachers are very good but others are not."
Educational curriculum
"We have art classes twice a week at school. We do drawing, screen printing, pottery and painting."
"We learn music at school. They have drums, guitars and other instruments here.
"We learn about health and how to look after our bodies. There is a lady who comes to the school to teach us about this."
Technology
We all use computers at school. We use them for typing, writing stories and playing games."
Sports and social activities
"We have all kinds of sport at school - football, softball, basketball, swimming."
"We travel to different places for school sport competitions. We've been to Normanton, Burketown, Karumba and other places."
"The school organises barbeques for us."
School conditions
"We need more seats and benches around the school yard."
"We need a better playground."
"There's a lot of graffiti around the school. They make you clean it up."
Fighting at school
"A lot of kids get into fights at school. They fight in class and also after school."
"Kids tease each other and call each other names. There's not a lot of respect."
"There isn't a lot of bad blood between kids at school. After a fight they usually make up and forget about it."
"If you are caught fighting at school you get suspended for four days. When you return to school you have to apologise to the person you got into the fight with."
Drugs and alcohol
"Lots of kids at school are into smoking."
"Even younger kids in primary school smoke."
"Kids drink and smoke down at the river. They smoke dope as well as cigarettes."
"Its really easy for kids to get hold of dope in Doomadgee."
Community problems
"A lot of people get drunk in Doomadgee. Some adults stay up late drinking and having parties. They get very noisy and its hard to get peace and quiet. Sometimes you can't get to sleep and then you have trouble staying awake at school the next day."
"Sometimes there are break-ins at school. It happens very often, nearly every weekend. People get drunk and then they break in and steal stuff or destroy property. Usually its teenagers that do it, kids who are around 13, 14 or 15."
"A lot of teenage girls in Doomadgee have babies."
Last updated 2 December 2001.
