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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Grandfather the second person to die after crash in Melbourne's east
A grandfather who was struck by a car while walking along a footpath in Melbourne's east with his wife and grandson has died from his injuries. On Thursday, a car being driven by a 91-year-old woman lost control and hit the trio, who were walking along Coleman Road, in Wantirna South, about 12:20pm. A 59-year-old woman, who was the two-year-old boy's grandmother, died at the scene. A 60-year-old man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but Victoria Police said he died on Saturday. The two-year-old boy received non-life-threatening injuries, while the female driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. She is yet to be interviewed. Police believe the elderly woman's Toyota Yaris lost control before striking the trio, driving through a fence and coming to rest against a park bench. On Thursday, Superintendent Justin Goldsmith described the incident as "an absolute tragedy". "Unfortunately we're facing a horrific month for road trauma. We've had 14 people lose their lives in seven days." Police said that, after striking the pedestrians, the car travelled for another 200 metres towards a park before crashing through the fence. No-one else was injured at the park. Superintendent Goldsmith said the driver, a 91-year-old woman, was "terribly shaken" by the incident. Detectives from the Major Collision Investigation Unit are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. Anyone who witnessed the crash or has CCTV or dash cam footage has been urged to contact police.

ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
How the 'manosphere' is fuelling teen misogyny inside Australian schools
When Holly Cooper entered teaching after a successful career as a political advisor, she was prepared for typical adolescent behaviour. "I felt I had a pretty hard shell, so I was kind of used to … teenage boys being gross or, you know, the odd comment," she tells ABC TV's Compass. But in the first class she ever took, Holly was met with something else: a male student filming her with his phone. "I had no idea what to do about it," she recalls. "If you ask a [student] — usually a boy — to give you their phone, they'll generally say, 'No, I'm not doing it'. Holly is one of many current and former teachers who've experienced misogyny in Australian classrooms. Compass has heard accounts of physical intimidation, overt sexualisation, derogatory language and deeply worrying behaviour from children as young as kindergarten. Meg, for instance, who's been teaching for more than a decade, says she's been called a c***, a f***ing bitch and a slut by primary school-aged students. Other teachers, who've spoken on the condition of anonymity, told us: "I had a year 9 boy do a creative writing exercise that basically described an act of gang rape towards me." "When I was very heavily pregnant, male students would get scissors and pretend to faux stab me. There were no consequences because all they have to say is, 'I was joking. She can't take a joke.'" "I was taking another teacher's class. A boy went to the bathroom, then a female student saw he posted on Snapchat. She was like, 'Miss, he's in the toilet wanking over you'." These behaviours don't exist in a vacuum. They correlate with a rise in misogynistic material on social media. Studies worldwide show that teenage boys are being recommended 'manosphere' content whether they search for it or not. It's a trend that NSW Women's Safety Commissioner Hannah Tonkin has been closely observing. "It doesn't take long for a teenage boy who's online, who might be doing innocuous searches about sport or fitness … [to be] bombarded with messaging about how a return to traditional masculinity and traditional gender norms is the answer to their problems," she says. Indeed, these influencers are perpetuating limited, archaic beliefs. "[They argue] that men need to be tough, dominant and aggressive, that they can't show any emotion or vulnerability, and that this is the way to succeed in life," says Tonkin. Such messaging is often combined with misogynistic jokes or sexist stereotypes about women. "There's often a narrative about men being under attack or feminism being to blame," Dr Tonkin says. Twenty-six-year-old Jefferson knows what it's like to fall down this rabbit hole. Back when he was a teenager, he scoured the internet for advice on how to gain confidence, particularly in the dating realm. "I was very self-conscious about body image, the way people thought about me, the way I represented myself," Jefferson recalls. "I think when you're not happy with that, you look for answers." Jefferson came across male influencers who acted as though they wanted to help. "It initially starts off very simple, very innocent, very objectively helpful: clean your room, go to the gym, work out, eat healthy," he says. "Then you keep watching or you get recommended something else … like, how to tell if a girl is into you." Soon, the algorithms led him into darker terrain, one where his dating difficulties suddenly became "women's fault". This content affected how Jefferson viewed and interacted with the opposite sex. "I would both be more confident with women, but at the same time still feel really shit about myself," he says. "[There were] times where someone was just a friend and I would think that they were fully in love with me, and it caused a lot of relationships to break down." But he also began judging himself far more harshly. "If you get rejected, then you're, like, worthless," he says. Throughout this period, Jefferson maintained a strong relationship with his sister. He credits her with helping him climb out of the rabbit hole. "I used to go to her for dating advice, and I'd say things [like], 'Maybe I should just be a little more mean?'" he recalls. "She's just like, 'What are you talking about? Why would anyone want to be with someone like that?' "If I spewed back the talking points that I was given, she wouldn't give ground, essentially." While Jefferson considers his younger self a misogynist, he's now deeply opposed to this ideology and to the current figurehead Andrew Tate. "I think a lot of men … go to Andrew Tate because they're lost," he says. "I don't like him. I don't like what he represents. I think it's scary that … he's been charged with so many horrible things, he says horrible things … and then there are a brigade of young men who will defend those actions. "This movement is just there for hatred." As a youth advocate and educator, Daniel Principe is acutely aware of what Australian boys are seeing —and, in some instances, saying — behind closed doors. "In every school and every postcode, rape jokes and rape threats are completely and utterly normalised," he says. Travelling to schools around the country, he often starts his presentations asking students about the content they're served online. Sexist memes? Gambling ads? Links to adult services? In all of these instances, teenage hands fly up. "What's so tragic is they're hearing these voices that are whipping up suspicion at best and disdain at worse for the other sex," says Daniel. "Children have these billion-dollar and trillion-dollar industries weaponising their limbic systems against them. These beliefs aren't just being absorbed by boys. Many teachers say girls are becoming quieter in class to avoid the attention of certain boys. Former teacher Holly Cooper remembers doing a class exercise, known as Traffic Lights, which she used to unpack healthy relationships and harmful behaviours. The students were given three cards to hold up: Green indicating, "I'd be comfortable with that"; amber for "I'm not sure"; and red as a direct "That's not acceptable". In one domestic violence-related scenario, students were given the prompt: "He hits the wall next to my head". Holly says, to her disbelief, many of the female students held up green and amber cards. "I questioned one of them and I said, 'Why wasn't it a red?' And she said, 'Because he didn't hit me.'" Dr Hannah Tonkin says that sexist comments, misogynistic jokes and gender stereotypes can lay a foundation for greater harm. "These are all contributing to an environment where violence against women is more likely to be tolerated and more likely to occur," she says. For Daniel Principe, it's crucial for more boys and men to care about this issue. "Too many women and girls that I know that I love, that I've shared life with and been friends with, have been impacted by male violence and especially male sexual violence," he says. And at schools, that means calling out rape jokes or sexist comments, not passing them off as "banter". Despite these complex challenges, Daniel sees a great deal of hope and potential in the next generation of teenagers. "The task is hard, but it's possible," he says. "My suspicion is, if we do this well, boys are actually very open to having these conversations and looking at things that aren't healthy and wanting to challenge and reject that." While Daniel's work addressing the issue at a grassroots level — giving students and parents the tools to navigate harmful material online — he wants to see greater action at an international level. "We need to hold big tech to account," he says. Indeed, governments around the world are fighting to regulate social-media platforms. Here in Australia, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is overseeing the implementation of laws that aim to prevent under-16s accessing social media. Like Daniel, Dr Tonkin believes increased accountability is critical. "We need the digital platforms to be assessing risks and building safety protections into their systems," she says. "They can't continue to turn a blind eye to the real-world harms that this is causing." But to truly combat the misogynistic content teens are being bombarded with, experts say it is going to take a community-wide approach. "It's going to take all of us — from individual parents, families, sporting clubs, schools, religious groups, and all the way up to government — to do something," says Daniel. "[To make sure] it is easier for a young person to navigate their adolescence in a way that isn't demoralising to them, that isn't dehumanising to them and to others. "We have to exercise our moral imaginations as to what that's going to look like, because no other generation has had to navigate this before." Watch Hijacking Adolescence on Compass tonight at 6:30pm on ABC TV, or stream now on iview.

News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
60-year-old man dies after Wantirna crash in Melbourne
A second person has died following Thursday's horror crash in Wantirna South in Melbourne. Victoria Police confirmed late on Saturday night that a 60-year-old man had succumbed to the injuries he suffered in the crash and passed away in hospital. A 59-year-old woman also died in the crash. A two-year-old boy was hit and received non life-threatening injuries. The trio are believed to be from the same family and the two adults are reportedly the grandparents of the little boy. The police have arrested a 91-year-old woman, who has yet to be interviewed. She received minor injuries in the crash. 'The investigation into the exact circumstances surrounding the collision remains ongoing,' the police said. The woman is believed to have lost control of her Toyota Yaris on Coleman Rd in Wantirna South, Melbourne at about 12.20pm on Thursday. The vehicle struck a man, woman, and child before ploughing through a fence. Witness Heather Webber told reporters she 'ran straight out' of the house after hearing a 'funny, weird sound'. Outside, she discovered the 60-year-old man lying on the path. 'There he was, the poor chap, lying on his back,' she said, adding she was 'first one to see the … gentleman on the path'. 'He was nicely dressed … just a (cardigan), I think, and the bleeding was excessive,' she said. Ms Webber's husband called the paramedics 'straight away'. She told reporters she was 'very disturbed' by the crash, and was unable to sleep on Thursday night. She recalled the young boy 'clinging to someone who helped him'. 'There was another lady who picked him up,' she said. Locals could be seen paying respect to the victims at the scene of the crash, including the Wong family, who lay flowers on the path. Police said they were still working to establish the speed of the car at the time of the incident. 'It is a downhill section of road, so if there has been a lack of control to some degree, there is a possibility that the car would have picked up speed as it streamed down,' Superintendent Justin Goldsmith said on Friday. 'We don't have enough information to say that it's a high-speed crash or that speed is a contributing factor at this stage.' It is unclear if a medical episode contributed to the incident. Police said the car mounted the footpath for about 40-50m before hitting the pedestrians who were on the path. 'Tragically that vehicle has collided with a couple and a child,' Mr Goldsmith said. 'That driver has then continued with some degree of lack of control down Coleman Rd and has collided with a street sign, and then has ended up in the reserve about 200m from the collision scene.' The heavily damaged car remains in the park appearing to have crashed into a bench. The crash is the latest in a string of road fatalities in Victoria. 'Unfortunately, we're facing a horrific month for road trauma,' Mr Goldsmith said. 'We've had 14 people lose their lives in seven days. Consider that for the month of July, compared to June, where we lost 12 people for the entire month … we've lost so many lives and had so many life-threatening injuries over the course of last week (and it) is completely horrific and unacceptable.'