HIGH school students have pushed back against One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s claims their classrooms have become overly “woke”. 

Around 1000 students walked out of classrooms to gather at Yagan Square last week for a protest against the surging right-wing party.

The students at the protest consistently said schools were not teaching the “woke agenda”, arguing there should actually be more education about gender diversity, sexuality and Indigenous history.

Protest organiser Emily Lassam rejected Pauline Hanson’s use of the term “woke” to describe teaching students about social inequality and marginalised groups.

• Around 1000 students left classes to attend Perth’s protests against Pauline Hanson. Photos by Layla Heffernan

“Pauline Hanson and the right use the term ‘woke’ to describe any acknowledgement that there is oppression in the world,” Ms Lassam said.

“If you talk about the oppression of women, trans people or migrants then suddenly it’s ‘woke’, but it is just the acknowledgement of reality.”

Ms Lassam said schools had a responsibility to expose students to broader social and political issues rather than avoiding them in the name of neutrality.

“It is hypocritical of the right to say we have to be neutral in schools because their neutrality is accepting the world as it is, which is class divided, very oppressive and unequal,” she said

Another protester said the push to remove such content reflected a broader normalisation of intolerance.

“It is just incredibly jarring and awful to see hatred being so normalised, not just in schools but all over Australia,” they said.

Ms Lassam cited One Nation’s recent polling increases and success in the recent Secret Harbour by-election as reasons for the demonstration.

For the students gathered at Yagan Square however, the protest was ultimately about having their voices heard.

One student said being too young to vote should not prevent young people from having a voice on political issues that will affect their future.

“Just because we are not adults, just because we can’t vote in elections, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have a say in who is coming into our government. It’s our future not hers.”

“We are the next generation of politicians and if children do not get the opportunity to learn about stuff like that the cycle is going to repeat itself.”

One Nation national education spokesperson Colleen Harkin was contacted for comment but did not respond before publication.

by LAYLA HEFFERNAN