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Ms Couzens headlined the event, speaking and answering questions for nearly an hour about her life growing up in Geelong\u2019s northern suburbs, her time in social and youth work, about how her \u201canger grew into determination\u201d, and her eventual entry into politics and achievements since entering state Parliament in 2014.<\/p>\n
She encouraged the female students to put self-doubt aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve realised over the years is that we often underestimate ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to a lot of women now and you often hear them say they always second-guess themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t put ourselves out there, it\u2019s hard for us for us to step up in the way that we need to create better jobs and better pathways in everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she was continuing to push hard for funding to create the Geelong Youth Hub.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung people have to have a voice, you are our future leaders sitting right in this room.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message to you is that you can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
North Geelong Secondary College assistant principal Brad Headlam said Be Bold Be Heard had started with just three secondary schools but had expanded since then, and the intention was to get all of the Geelong region\u2019s secondary schools on board.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our school data in the middle years, the boys are feeling pretty good but the girls aren\u2019t feeling great, and we think there\u2019s wider context as well that\u2019s impacting girls \u2013 cultural background, home, all those things \u2013 and we want to make them feel empowered about how to speak up about the things that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s something each term in the plan, then hopefully they make some change and their data improves.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there had already been a small but noticeable shift in the data, but the intention was to get the students to address the wider issues confronting them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re really good at speaking up about things that are said in the schoolyard \u2013 \u2018Come and address it with us\u2019 \u2013 now it\u2019s the bigger picture stuff; let\u2019s make changes on a bigger scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s slow change in some instances but the voices are there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG\u2019S next generation of female leaders have been encouraged to be bold, speak up and believe in themselves. Geelong MP Christine Couzens was the guest speaker at the Be Bold Be Heard event at North Geelong Secondary College on Monday this week. Now in its third year, the year-long Be Bold Be Heard program involves […]<\/p>\n