Australian School Swaps Annual Mother's Day Event For More 'Inclusive' 'Appreciation Day'

Brittany M. Hughes | May 10, 2019
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An Australian primary school is dropping its traditional “Mother's Day” celebration for the more “inclusive” “Appreciation Day.”

According to Janet Di Pilla, the principal of Melbourne’s Brunswick East Primary School, swapping out Mother's Day and Father's Day for a less “binary” celebration is a way to “recognize that our families are not made up of any particular combination of people.”

“We will be holding 2 of these days each year; one to coincide with the ‘traditional’ Mother’s Day and the other to coincide with the ‘traditional’ Father’s Day,” read a letter sent to parents, according to Yahoo! News Australia. “It is also very important that we make these occasions as inclusive as possible. I sincerely hope that this change in name will show that we as a community recognize that our families are not made up of any particular combination of people and that we no longer subscribe to a binary world.”

“I hope that this acknowledgement goes some way to address any hurt which has occurred in the past,” the letter went on.

According to Yahoo! Australia, not everyone was as on-board with the change as the school may have hoped. 

“The more I hear about what they are allowing to happen to Australia, the angrier I get. Shame on Brunswick East Primary School,” one user wrote on Facebook. “They have now decided to drop the Mother’s Day and call it Appreciation day. That Principal needs sacking for allowing this.”

 

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