Pat Cronin went out for some beers with mates on April 16, 2016 but never came home.
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The 19 year old played his first senior game in his local footy team alongside his older brother that day.
It was meant to be a relaxed night out, but the atmosphere at the suburban Melbourne venue turned toxic. A fight broke out and Pat went into the fray to drag his friend away.
That's when he was struck once from behind. He walked away from the scuffle but soon felt a headache coming on. Two hours later he had a seizure.
A fracture in his skull caused a bleed on his brain. His father, Matt Cronin, said by the time he was in hospital he was effectively brain dead.
Two days later, Pat's parents made the horrible decision to turn off his life support.
Once you throw that punch, you've got no control over what happens next.
- Matt Cronin
His family have set up the Pat Cronin Foundation to educate young people that violence is never the answer and to give them skills to step back and think before they throw a punch.
"Pat would be 27 if he was with us now. He would have finished his uni and he'd be working," Matt Cronin said.
"They are all could'ves, should'ves and maybes. We'll just never know."
Fighting for 'likes'
The charity ran 10 presentations in Canberra and Yass in the past week in a mixture of private and public high schools plus the Canberra Police Community Youth Club (PCYC).
It comes after ACT recorded the highest rates of violence and threats of violence in the Australian Catholic University's 2023 survey of principal.
The Pat Cronin Foundation began its work in Victoria, where presenters have since visited up to 60 per cent of secondary schools.
The charity surveys students before and after hearing their presentations. The results from more than 17,000 students in Victoria showed that:
- one-third believed fighting can be a way to have fun
- one-third liked to watch fights at school
- 85 per cent believed the use of violence was ok to defend yourself
Mr Cronin said people were quick to blame COVID for rising mental health concerns and increasing violence but he believed there was something else to blame.
For instance, the ACU survey showed that Victoria, the most locked-down state in the country, reported the lowest rates of violence and threats of violence against principals.
The foundation heard young people were fighting with their peers and posting the videos on social media to attract likes and reactions.
"Once you throw that punch, you've got no control over what happens next. So this notoriety that we're seeing with people ... fighting for likes and stuff like that, it's just a crazy part of our culture that we need to try and get rid of," Mr Cronin said.
Anger management
Mr Cronin said the foundation's "be wise" presentation gave students simple strategies to pause and assess their situation to manage their anger and emotions. This is backed by laying out the devastating consequences of violence, as in Pat's case.
"I want to look after the good kids and I want to give them strategies to say that if they are confronted with something, what can they do to avoid it?"
Mr Cronin said the Canberra schools had paid for the presentations out of their school budgets but he would like to open a conversation with the Education Directorate about central funding for more presentations in the territory.
The foundation presented at Yass High School, Canberra High School, Gold Creek School, Melba Copeland Secondary School, Erindale College, Canberra Grammar School and St Francis Xavier College.
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Pat Cronin Foundation presenter Alan Latu spoke to about 40 teenagers part of Canberra PCYC diversion program.
Canberra PCYC chief executive Cheryl O'Donnell said while adults tended to hesitate before reacting, young people often thought they were bulletproof.
"For any family to go through what the Cronins went through is just horrendous. And it's so heartbreaking, for a family to get a phone call or a police officer turn up at the doorstep to say that the child has been killed or taken to hospital in a serious condition.
"We're trying to get through to them that please don't lash out. You're better off walking away from a situation."