Quarterly Essay 67: Moral Panic 101

Are Australian schools safe? And if they're not, what happens when kids are caught in a bleak collision between ill-equipped school staff and a confected media scandal?

In 2016, the Safe Schools program became the centre of an ideological firestorm. In QE67, Benjamin Law explores how and why this happened. He weaves a subtle, gripping account of schools today, sexuality, teenagers, new ideas of gender fluidity, tabloid media scares and mental health.

Looking at the perils for those of uncertain or shamed sexual identity and bullying of the vulnerable young, he brings to light hidden worlds in an essay notable for its humane clarity.