Every morning in Melbourne, between 5.00 and 7.00am, Bourke Street and Little Collins Street are powerful places of learning.
No fewer than 25 sleepers can be found on cold slabs of concrete and in doorways. Some lie on cardboard, some in sleeping bags; others have nothing to protect them from the elements. Countless more are scattered on other streets and foul-smelling alleys in the CBD. What you won’t find are those who earn a comfortable living working to assist homelessness.
It seems these sleepers have something in common: their undignified life is enabled – by those who are often well-intentioned, but blindly ignorant of the situation.
Melbourne’s streets haven’t always been like this. Our early settlers and lawmakers sought a new frontier of responsibility, enterprise and personal fulfilment. They believed in the principle of freedom, complemented by a respect for essential boundaries.
The homeless, then, were those with no visible means of support. There was no financial welfare, and no ivory tower of ideology and zero tolerance. They were taken off the streets, washed, fed and clothed. Church groups and volunteers offered solace. Repeat offenders were rehabilitated. Homelessness was not profitable.
Today, as the sun comes up on Melbourne streets, the sleepers all but disappear and the beggars move in. It’s hard to distinguish the needy from the savvy. And both can take advantage of the well-intentioned and the ignorant. There are no boundaries; there is no freedom.
Melbourne’s streets are like our classrooms. They are rich with sensory experiences. They must also be rich with thought. When we see, hear, and smell the homeless, or throw a coin into a hat, we make no distinction between the genuinely needy and the street savvy. We must all learn to use our senses as a starting point – to begin critical thought and debate boundless possibility.
The streets of Melbourne and our classrooms are powerful places of learning, where freedom can be balanced with boundaries. Only then can our thinking lead us to choose dignity over profit; only then can the vision of our founders be realised.
Copyright © 2019 Cheryl Lacey All rights reserved.
Parent, educationist, author, speaker.
Agitating advocate for change in Australian education. By raising the bar we can challenge and overcome any global challenges facing Australia and Australians.
Planning a Professional Development Session, Conference or Event?
I’ll work with you to customise a compelling and thought-provoking program or keynote most suitable for your organisation and your audience.
Click here to learn how we can work together or contact me at cheryl@cheryllacey.com.
