HLSC120 Reflective Essay: Shaping Views on Indigenous Australians

This essay critically reflects on the factors that have shaped the author's views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's culture and health. The reflection includes an examination of how family values, school education, personal experiences, mass media, and literature have influenced these views. The author discusses the importance of valuing human life and respecting diverse cultures, highlighting the impact of school education in understanding the resilience of Indigenous cultures. A personal visit to an Aboriginal community revealed a loving and caring society. Mass media exposure has highlighted the inequalities faced by these communities, while literature has reinforced the themes of cultural preservation and marginalization. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need to bridge the inequality gap and acknowledge the rich traditional culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Running head: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE 2
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Our perception concerning various people, issues and places is usually influenced by
our environment (Short, 2016). There are different kinds of environment that influence such
perception. These include family, school and the literature that one interacts with (Alesina,
Algan, Cahuc and Giuliano, 2015). There are several factors that have shaped the view that I
have concerning the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander People. This assignment is
going to focus on these factors. Specifically, the assignment will focus on family values and
attitudes, school education, personal experiences, mass media, and literature.
I come from a family where human life is greatly valued. From a very early age, I was
taught to regard every person with the highest form of respect and never to despise anyone.
This seems to be analogous to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United
Nations which stipulates that every human on earth should be accorded the highest form of
dignity. Therefore, I grew to treasure any person I came across and never wanted to harm or
be in the wrong with any person. This family value and attitude towards human life have
influenced my personal views of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As far as I
am concerned, I view them as equal human beings who deserve to be accorded the highest
form of dignity. Although I was raised in a modern way, my family regarded highly any
person despite their cultural or religious background. Due to this, I view the culture of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as great and one that should be respected.
School education is a powerful tool in changing an individual’s perceptions about life,
people and places (Luke, 2018). During my school life, I have learned a lot about the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I have learned that despite the great changes
that have taken place due to the process of civilization, they have largely chosen to maintain
their traditional culture. This strikes me and has made me think highly of them. It does not

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only take great courage but also determination to maintain a traditional culture in a society
that seems to have adopted western civilization. It is remarkable that these people have made
a choice to retain their culture despite the greatly civilized environment that has surrounded
them for several decades now.
There was a time that I visited a village whose main occupants are Aboriginal and
Torres Islander people. It is worth acknowledging that I found the state in which they live in
to be outdated. This is probably because I have interacted with so much civilization and
modernization. However, there is one thing that I liked very much about these people.
Although they have retained the traditional culture, the people are full of love and care. They
care about the wellbeing of their neighbours and anyone who visits them. This is a virtue that
is slowly but surely disappearing among most people in the 21st century. In the modern age,
most people tend to care about themselves only. This interaction with these people printed a
picture of a loving and caring society.
The mass media is a great tool for passing information to people. It is argued that the
mass media has revolutionized the process of communication (Hartley, 2017). Through the
mass media, I have learned several things about the Aboriginal and Torres Islander people.
Most of the information that I have learned through the mass media concerns the inequality
that exists between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when compared to other
people groups in Australia. The views that I have formed of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people due to this is that they are marginalized. I also believe that they should
receive more resources from the government to bridge the inequality gap.
Interacting with literature is one of the best ways of acquiring knowledge (Rigney,
2017). There exist numerous body of literature concerning the Aboriginal and the Torres
Strait Islander people (Rosenblatt, 2016). The greatest lessons I have learned from the

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literature concerning these people is that they have upheld their traditional culture and that
they are marginalized. This has shaped the view I have about them. I view them as people
who are very marginalized and traditional.
In conclusion, I have several views concerning the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait
Islander people. The perceptions that we have towards people or places are shaped by certain
factors. It follows that there are several factors influencing the views I have toward the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These include family values and attitudes, social
education, personal experiences, mass media, and literature.

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References
Alesina, A., Algan, Y., Cahuc, P., & Giuliano, P. (2015). Family values and the regulation of
labour. Journal of the European Economic Association, 13(4), 599-630.
Hartley, J. (2017). The Politics of Pictures: the creation of the public in the age of the
popular media. Routledge.
Luke, A. (2018). Critical Literacy, Schooling, and Social Justice (pp. 168-188). Routledge.
Rigney, L. I. (2017). Indigenous Peoples' Wisdom and Power (pp. 61-77). Routledge.
Rosenblatt, L. M. (2016). Literature as exploration. Routledge.
Short, D. (2016). Reconciliation and colonial power: Indigenous rights in Australia.
Routledge.