There appears to be a growing call in Australia to have Father's Day renamed to Special Person's Day, to ensure kids without a dad don't feel left out or upset by their situation. Dr Red Ruby Scarlet is a university academic and convener of the social justice in early childhood activist group, and believes the move would help a lot of children.
Appearing on Today Tonight, Dr Scarlet explained that if we shift the language around special days like Father's Day, it will help instil a better sense of belonging.
Credit: Today Tonight
Dr Scarlet doesn't touch on whether Mother's Day should also be changed to the same title, considering there are kids in Australia and the world who grow up without a mum.
But she tells host Rosanna Mangiarelli it's not just for kids without a dad: "There are children who have a dad, who also have a grandfather and also have an auntie and also have other kinds of relatives. There are also a huge range of different family structures, so we have single parent families, satellite families, extended families, lesbian and gay families.
"There has been a backlash, but the backlash hasn't necessarily come from families from those communities, it's people outside those particular contexts."
And there most certainly has been outrage on social media.
Dr Scarlet defends the necessity for young children to need social justice by saying: "There's a lot of Australian research that has actually informed a lot of international research, teacher research for example, that has demonstrated children's capacity to be really inclusive once they know about these ideas and they think 'wow why are people seeing this as a controversy, why are we calling this political correctness when in fact it's about our rights.'"
Her comments have been torn to shreds by New South Wales Education Minister David Elliot, who reportedly wrote on Facebook: "People still celebrate fatherhood even after their father and grandfathers have passed away, in fact for many people Father's Day is a wonderful time of reflecting and remembering.
"Dr Red Ruby Scarlet you are the offensive one. Maybe we should start a campaign to address that."
What do you think?
Featured Image Credit: Today Tonight
