For our city’s youngest cancer patients, the fight goes beyond the disease.
Misinformation and lies can mean bullying and marginalisation for many children reintegrating to everyday life after cancer treatment.
It’s tough to hear, but one children’s cancer charity says it’s the brutal truth.
That charity, Camp Quality, will this week take to the stage at a local school to bust some of the biggest cancer myths – using puppets.
Camp Quality’s puppet show, playing this Wednesday 9 July at Eden Academy Woodridge, aims to support children aged 3-12 with a loved one facing cancer, as well as children who are reintegrating back into school following cancer treatment.
According to Camp Quality, age-appropriate information can help reduce bullying and absenteeism, and build mental well-being for primary and pre-school kids impacted by cancer.
“It’s awful to think that a child would get bullied after returning from the trauma of cancer
treatment, but the sad fact is that they do,” CEO Deborah Thomas said.
“Through the cancer education program, children learn simple but crucial information, such as: you can’t catch cancer from someone else.
“This can make all the difference when a child returns without hair due to chemotherapy or with other physical markers of cancer.”
She said the program was also vital for the many kids dealing with a parent, carer,
grandparent, friend or relative facing a cancer diagnosis.
“Age-appropriate information can change what is happening around them from a terrifying time to something they understand,” Ms Thomas said.
“Education is empowerment.”
She said the show was the only one of its kind in Australia and has helped hundreds of thousands of children over its 34-year history.
In 2024 alone, 61,077 students saw the cancer education program, with the Camp Quality puppets performing at 434 schools and education and care services across the country.
One mother whose daughter was facing a cancer diagnosis said the puppet show was “a very heartfelt, educational experience.
“It made such a difference in normalising my daughter’s cancer experience and normalising talking about cancer among each other and in the school community,” she said.
