Year 12 and 13 students had day-long seminars this week and listened to David Kobler, from the Australian-based organisation, Your Choicez. David investigated some of the issues that are impediments to becoming a good man, including the misuse of social media and pornography. Rather me paraphrasing the message, here is Adam Lyon’s account of the seminar…

What makes a man a man? This was the question that challenged every Year 12 & 13 student this week.

We found ourselves in the PAC for another full day talk. An Australian man was trying to tell us how we should live our lives, but his message stuck and we couldn't help but attentively listen. We learnt specifically about the qualities of masculinity, the importance of relationships and challenge of addiction. By using good and not so good examples such as Charlie Sheen and Officer Keith Payne we all collectively realised the qualities of what a man should be. The contrast of Charlie Sheen as the “ideal” man because of his womanising ways and his quest to be perpetually young and free of commitment to Officer Keith Payne was most powerful. When we heard of the story of Keith Payne there was silence. Everyone was listening. You could hear a pin drop. It was the man that would selflessly give up their own life for others that we truly adored. This caused a clash for many. We could act like the man secular society has told us to be, all the while, really wanting to be and looking up to the man that showed the real qualities of one.

Secular society promotes the idea that commitment is something to avoid and we shouldn't let emotions enter our relationships. This is some of the lies that we see being thrown at us through main stream media. We all desire to one day have a good, successful relationship for a lifetime, so why has relationships been condemned by many? The beauty of freely being able to give yourself to another was what we all desire, so why wait, but rather start to work on being a true man now, and get rid of all things that may damage any of our relationships with others.

Addiction has the potential to create division between people. The addictive nature of pornography was also discussed, being now far more affordable, accessible and anonymous than for previous generations. Many think immediately about drugs and alcohol when talking about addiction, but the one that best fits the criteria is pornographic material. We learnt scientifically about the damage pornography can have on our minds and relationships around us and also the many problems that can arise if we lose our self-control and are controlled by addiction.

By addressing these issues, the ones no one likes to talk about, left a lasting impact. Every single senior that attended walked away with something. We learnt how to be a Man.

I wouldn’t have put it any better myself!!

Until next week
Justin Boyle