Fraser High students set to protest principal's speech

Hamilton's Fraser High School students are set to walk out of class Monday morning after controversial comments by their principal.

Virginia Crawford last week at a full school assembly said truancy can lead to being a victim of rape or domestic violence.

A protest lasting for one period is planned for 10am, according to a flyer passed around by students and supplied to Newshub by a staff member.

It reads, in all-caps, "F**K! MRS CRAWFORD WAGGING PROTESTING @10AM MONDAY IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL".

At the bottom it says "SPREAD THE WORD".

The flyer. Photo credit: Supplied

"These kids know that wagging is detrimental to their education," the staff member told Newshub. "They are standing up against sexual assault and domestic violence victim-blaming, which is a very brave and commendable thing to do."

The school board defended Ms Crawford, saying the speech could be enough to put students on a more positive path.

Ms Crawford's speech made headlines not just in New Zealand, but Australia and the UK.

The Ministry of Education said anyone who has a problem with Ms Crawford's comments should complain to the school directly.

What Virginia Crawford said
 

"Every student who walks out of the gate to truant is already a statistic of the worst kind, highly likely to go to prison, highly likely to commit domestic violence or be a victim of domestic violence, be illiterate, be a rape victim, be a suicide victim, be unemployed for the majority of their life, have a major health problem or problems, die at an early age, have an addiction - drugs, gambling, alcohol or smoking.

"The more you truant, the more likely you are to end up as one or most of those statistics. I don't want you to be one of those statistics. Economic research confirms everything I am telling you. It's been proven. Some young people at Fraser today are still proving that message to be true."

Newshub.

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