Abby Peterson-Hampshire today made a rallying call to her generation of students to reconnect with the significance of ANZAC Day to express gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in wars and conflicts.

Abby, 16, from Terrigal High School, was chosen to make the keynote address at the RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Commemoration in Sydney before 1500 students and teachers, the Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley, RSL NSW President Mick Bainbridge, Premier Chris Minns, and the leaders of the three school sectors.

“On ANZAC Day we stop. We switch off our screens and we listen to the words of those who were there. We take in the scope of ceremony and tradition. We, who are often disconnected, learn to connect with the past,” Abby said.

“And we come away with a better understanding of the reality of war so we can express our gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice all those years ago to give us the peace and freedom we enjoy now.

“We are reminded that behind each number of the millions lost in war from World War I to today there is a real person, with their own story that we can learn from.”

Abby, in Year 10, is a gifted public speaker and debater and is currently enrolled in an accelerated HSC program for Preliminary Mathematics. (Read Abby’s full speech below).

The student ceremony, this year marking the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, is held annually in the lead-up to ANZAC Day to honour Australian service members and educate young people about Australia’s military history.

Every part of the annual RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Commemoration at the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park is led by students from NSW public, Catholic and Independent schools, from the keynote address to the playing of The Last Post.

The student commemoration started in 1953 as a collaboration between RSL NSW and the NSW Department of Education and later expanded to students in all school sectors.

Education Secretary Murat Dizdar paid tribute to all the students who attended and participated in the ceremony and the teachers who guided and supported them.

“It’s so important that the students of today learn of the bravery of all those who served in wars and conflicts to defend our freedom,” Mr Dizdar said.

“The student-run ANZAC service shows respect for the more than two million servicemen and women who have served in the Australian Defence Forces, including in peace-keeping and humanitarian operations.”

RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Commemoration speech by Abby Peterson-Hampshire

My earliest and most memorable associations with ANZAC day are the ceremonies held each year at my local beach. The bustling crowds of locals, young and old, together early in the morning to remember, and reflect on the lives lost, the survivors, and those who still serve. The sense of community, sincerity and of being completely present alongside people who each have their own individual connections to the day, make ANZAC Day unique. 

With countless lives lost to war and the pain and suffering that still leaves its mark, days such as ANZAC Day serve not as celebrations for us to glorify war, but as an opportunity to reflect and thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice. 

But I think there is something else that ANZAC Day does in the context of the society we live in. It helps us who are young and disconnected from the past, to reconnect and learn. 

This year marks 110 years since the landing at Gallipoli, and 80 years since the end of the second world war. Both significant anniversaries but perhaps far removed from the lives of young people today, especially with the constant distraction of social media and the bombardment of the not always reliable news cycle.

During the two World Wars, vision from the battlefront was rare, perhaps a sanitised version shown at the cinema, designed to convey the glory of war rather than the horrific reality faced by service personnel. Governments did their best to hide the horrors from loved ones back home and this added to the mental and emotional strain of the survivors.

In later wars such as Vietnam, vision of battle conditions was more accessible with the advent of television. This vision prompted awareness but also protest, against the violence and futility, the wasted lives. 

Recently I had the honour of speaking with Jack Wade, a Vietnam veteran, businessman and incredibly gracious, humble man. When Jack was 20, back in 1961, conscription was introduced in Australia and, like thousands of others, he was sent into rigorous training before eventually going to fight. Jack and his fellow soldiers, including a friend he made in Vietnam, John George, faced many dangers, battling both enemy troops and the harsh environment. 

But after everything they went through Jack felt incredibly lucky to have survived and also to have found such camaraderie in the army. Everyone had each other’s back, unconditionally, no matter how awful things were, no matter how they were portrayed back home.

When Jack came home his friend John stayed in the army and became a lieutenant colonel. About 8 years ago, walking down the street in Terrigal, he heard someone calling his name. He turned and there was his old friend John George, after almost 50 years. Out of all the places in Australia he could have decided to settle down, he’d bought a house only a few hundred metres from where Jack lived.

This reignited a friendship built on a mutual understanding of the horrors of war, but also of survival, resilience and mateship. That sort of community and connection means the world to many current and ex-service people, as well as to their loved ones. Someone who understands what they went through together. Because the media reports showed some of the graphic details but ignored the human stories.

Today, though, we have gone to another extreme. Our increasing reliance on social media desensitises us to violence and conflict. Information is more accessible than ever, and the constant bombardment of graphic content and the unrelenting news cycle often leaves us feeling powerless and disconnected. The scale and severity of the tragedy, violence and hardship of conflicts viewed online changes our perception of the world. Video after video, clickbait after clickbait, lives lost fade into a never- ending abyss and it’s hard to know what to believe. Whether it’s 50 or 50,000 people who’ve lost their lives, we in our safe spaces lose our fragile grasp on the humanity behind the loss when we view it through a screen. 

And so, we disconnect from it: We turn away from the facets of our society, both past and present, that are distressing and difficult to see, to read and learn about. 

Of course, we should always aim to be informed. Apathy doesn’t ultimately achieve anything and by being well informed about global conflicts, events and our history, we can better advocate for those who are suffering, speak out against injustice and become more empathetic, understanding people. In ignorance, we look past the compassion, empathy and hope that tries to arise from tragedy. 

But our media consumption needs to be intentional, seeking out reputable sources and meaningful, nuanced information. And this is where our community and schools play such an important role. 

Schools themselves are a community. So much of the learning that we do about current and historical conflicts and wars comes from our classrooms and is fundamentally influential in shaping the morals and values of future generations. I have some of the most incredible teachers and mentors in my life who have opened my eyes to the reality of war and sparked passion, empathy and interest in past and present injustices, including how we treat those who have returned from war. The teachers in our classrooms have the power to open minds, ignite humanity and move young people. And these young people are our future leaders, innovators and moral compasses. 

Coming together for events like this on ANZAC Day allows us, who only know conflict through our screens, to listen to the voices of those who know what it’s like to actually live through war and conflict. Those with lived stories, scars and experiences. In the classroom and as local communities, we have the opportunity to highlight these voices and learn from them.

ANZAC Day also gives us the opportunity to remember that some veterans and current service members continue to face stigma and shame when seeking help for mental health issues. Veterans are less likely to report a mental health disorder, despite evidence suggesting that they are at a higher risk of mental health concerns. Whilst there are many programs in place to support returning service men and women as well as current members of the defence force, including work by the RSL, there’s still a lot to be done. The National Institute of Health stresses the importance of early intervention, treatment and long-term management and, whilst we’ve come a very long way, stigma also needs to be tackled on a wider scale. 

War is the cruellest of lotteries and even those who make it out alive are left with lingering scars, physical and emotional, but the human stories that represent the best of us, our connection with and compassion for others, offers a spark of hope because they serve as a reminder of the true humanity that exists within all of us.

On ANZAC Day we stop. We switch off our screens and we listen to the words of those who were there. We take in the scope of ceremony and tradition. We who are often disconnected, learn to connect with the past. And we come away with a better understanding of the reality of war so we can express our gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice all those years ago to give us the peace and freedom we enjoy now.

We are reminded that behind each number of the millions lost in war from World War I to today there is a real person, with their own story that we can learn from. Through the most traumatic of experiences, our will to understand and connect with each other, to forge bonds in the most inhuman of circumstances, is what makes us truly human. I hope that as we disconnect from our screens today and focus on the meaning of ANZAC Day, we truly reconnect with our humanity.