Arriving At Platform Two Is Common Courtesy, If Not The Common Cold

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday July 22, 2006

John Huxley

"THERE'S no excuse for abuse," reads a CityRail poster plastered across Sydney platforms. "Some days don't go to plan," it earnestly explains, "but we all have the right to do our jobs without being: verbally abused, physically assaulted and spat upon."

Instead of harassing rail staff, disaffected passengers are urged to register their complaints through official channels.

The finger-wagging poster campaign is just one product of the State Government's new commuter "courtesy drive". Other moves, announced by the Premier, Morris Iemma, on a windswept Rhodes Station this week, include:

*Station announcements targeting "inappropriate" behaviour by free-pass students, such as vandalism, racism and failure to surrender their seats for the elderly, disabled and pregnant;

*A new code of conduct for students that carries penalties ranging from a two-week suspension of free travel to a permanent ban from public transport for "dangerous acts";

*Reminders, to adults especially, to avoid spreading flu germs by refraining from coughing and sneezing over fellow passengers. As John Watkins, the Transport Minister, put it, "If you're feeling crook ... look after yourself as well as those around you."

Commuters waiting at Rhodes generally welcomed the moves. "Young people can be very rude," said Lin Tan, "especially if there are lots of them."

But Mark Collins, from nearby Newington, suggested the moves smacked of the nanny state.

"You'd think CityRail would have better things to do than lecture its passengers. And asking them to dob each other in seems positively un-Australian," he said, checking his watch.

Experts were similarly divided. Stephen Juan, an anthropologist at Sydney University, said anti-social behaviour reflected the loss of a sense of community, hastened by social welfare cuts, industrial relations changes and free-market economics. "Young people are growing up in a world that is increasingly hostile," Dr Juan said.

"They are being pushed. And, not surprisingly, they push back."

Similarly, grown-ups thought nothing of wiping their noses, burping, or having loud mobile-phone conversations.

Dr Juan said the Government's intentions might be good, but he questioned its ability to change behaviour through warnings and codes of conduct. "If rules can't be policed, and people punished, they become a mockery."

Dianne Giblin, the acting president of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW, which helped draw up the students' code of conduct, said society's expectations of young people had changed.

"The days when they could be 'seen but not heard' are gone. They're now properly treated as people ... with rights and also responsibilities to behave appropriately.

"I'm afraid we don't have the best adult role models in the public transport system - sadly, we can't take their tickets off them. But this is a whole of community issue, not just the student's fault, the parent's fault or the teacher's fault."

Other experts, too, questioned the effectiveness of urging passengers to use handkerchiefs.

As Ruth Kendon, a Sydney naturopath, explained, "Covering your mouth when sneezing isn't enough by itself to stop colds and flu from spreading. Sufferers still touch the same handles and rails, and share the same air space."