In a bizarre incident, a school made boys stand in front of girls during the assembly and made them apologize to their female counterparts for sexual assault and rapes committed by the males.
Brauer College in the South-western Victorian town of Warrnambool, Australia, made the boys stand up in a symbolic gesture and deliver the apology, despite the fact they were not a part of any sexual harassment against women and most of them have not even reached their teenage.
The boys as young as 7 to 12-year-olds were made to apologize to their female classmates and most of them didn't know what they were being told to do and began looking confused, while the girls felt the same.
The parents and the boys were left ''mortified'' by the management's baseless acts and the move has sparked outrage and condemnation. Apart from the boys, the girls were also left shocked as the college made them feel victimized and many girls broke down in tears during the assembly.
Parents lashed out against the school authorities saying there were many more ethical ways to educate pupils and address the issue of consent, but the way the students were forced and subjected to apologize was not right.
Nicole Daniels, who's son studies in the school revealed to 9News that the school has completely messed it up. ''What they've made the boys do, they've labelled and categorized them into the same category as a perpetrator and a rapist when these boys have done nothing wrong. Nothing at all,'' she said.
Another mother, Rebecca Croft, revealed she immediately called up the school to complain about their demeanor, after her son reached home from school and told her about what had happened during the assembly.
''I was just absolutely horrified about my children having to stand up and apologize for something on behalf of their gender they have no control over,' she told the channel.
The mother wondered why the school would take the trouble of harassing a 12-year-old boy who has no idea about sexual assault and rape making him apologize for things that he doesn't even know exists.
''My 12-year-old has no idea about rape and sexual assault and he was made to apologize and he doesn't understand why,'' she said.
Another boys mother chipped in saying the school was making it look like the boys would end up being sexual ''perpetrators in the future'' and was furious her 7-year-old son was asked to stand in the assembly saying sorry to his female classmate.
Several parents and students, both boys and girls, took to their social media handles lashing out at the school authorities for their unruly behavior and after receiving heat from all corners, Brauer School sent out a statement and apologized for the assembly.
In a lengthy note explaining 'respect towards girls and women', the school in the last sentence said, ''In retrospect, while well-intended, we recognize that this part of the assembly was inappropriate.''
