TOXICITY Student Immersive Day at RPAC
Two weeks ago, at Redlands Performing Arts Centre, the Year 11 drama students from Cleveland District State High School and Alexandra Hills TAFE joined members of the creative team for TOXICITY (and we were lucky enough to also have with us the wonderful Lulu O’Brien from Micah Projects Children and Young Peoples Team).
We came together for the day to test ideas for the TOXICITY Learning Support Material (LSM) and in-school program which we’ll be rolling out at the beginning of 2026.
This was a short, sharp version of the testing we did in 2024 for the Rowan’s Story Project – that was focused specifically on gender equity issues whereas TOXICITY has a broader ambit – yes, looking at gender stereotypes and their underlying assumptions but also talking about peer pressure and bullying, the role of social media, ideas about privacy and image use and consent, social hierarchies and personal autonomy, bystanders and upstanders…
All the good stuff that people can feel adrift in or swamped by, in this messy, nuanced, challenging 21st Century life.
It was such a good day!
- The students were brilliant – the schools melded, working collaboratively (phone numbers were seen to be exchanged at the end of the day!).
- We established safety and wellbeing protocols for working with these ideas.
- There was a wonderful sense of open-ness sharing thoughts and feelings.
- The team offered an evidence-based, researched understanding of specific themes.
- The day’s facilitator (KIG) offered techniques to identify and/or interrupt toxic behaviours, insights from bystander training, and techniques for centering ourselves.
- Our vision director (NH) took students through a mini film technique session – which they then used to make their own short films [the worst anti-(fill in the toxic choice) promo possible]… and these were hilarious – and yet subtle…
As one teacher observed during the afternoon, “The vibe in the room (was) terrific!”
The thing is, I reckon we got more from working with these young people than they got from us.
So what did we learn:
- We tested approaches;
- we identified limits on what we could cover with 16/17 year olds;
- we clarified the kinds of scaffolding and support material that we’d absolutely need in the LSM;
- we asked, and they confirmed that these ideas and questions needed to go to the whole school, not just the drama kids; and
- we remembered what it was like to not yet have grown that hard shell.
They are so open to possibility! As Bridget said, “The future is in safe hands.”
So, a huge shout out to director Bridget Boyle, playwright Robert Kronk, vision director Nevin Howell, facilitator Katrina Irawati Graham, Lulu O’Brien from Micah Projects, videographer Tiana Lazzaroni, and especially all the CDSHS and TAFE students who came to ‘do drama’ despite some of them still having exams or essays due the next day.
