By Monique Ross

What should we do to ensure that LGBTI students are kept safe & educated? @DanielAndrewsMP #QandA https://t.co/NvKC1qTenF

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) March 21, 2016

A queer student has made an impassioned plea for politicians to stop using “in-pain children as political bullets” and stand up for the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, sparking a heated debate on the Q&A panel.

Key points:

• Safe Schools program to be changed after concerns it was inappropriate for children

• Student Carter Smith praises Victoria for standing by the program

• He says the controversy is only doing further harm to at-risk kids

• Jacqui Lambie says conservatives need to wake up to reality facing youth

  The program, designed to teach students about sexual and gender diversity and combat homophobia, will undergo content changes and only be used in high schools after a Government review sparked by concerns from conservative MPs and senators.

Victoria has vowed to go it alone and implement the program without changes, a move praised by student Carter Smith, who said the notion it is “radical gender theory” was “absolutely ridiculous”.

“What [was] said earlier about young queer people having a high rate of suicide, trust me, I see it, it is very true,” he said.

Energy and Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg said while he was “moved” by Carter’s comments and understood the mental health issues facing young people, he stood by the Government’s stance on Safe Schools.

He said the program contained the “controversial concept” that gender is fluid and can be self-selected. “The materials in the program say we shouldn’t use the terms ‘boys’ and ‘girls’, ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ anymore, we should use gender-neutral terms,” he said.

Fluid gender is a controversial concept, says @JoshFrydenberg Parental engagement is reasonable #QandA https://t.co/RUUi9OAG9E — ABC Q&A (@QandA) March 21, 2016

He also raised concerns about children in years seven and eight being asked “to pretend that they are aliens from another planet who come here and they are genderless, and they are asked questions about what would they do without any genitals”.

Mr Frydenberg asked Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews what his issue was with boosting parental engagement on the program – another recommendation of the review.

“I actually think, Daniel, it was completely outrageous of you to go out and criticise parents,” Mr Frydenberg said.

The remark prompted disbelief from Mr Andrews, who said: “I created the outrage?”

“Come on Josh, you don’t believe this. You’re not in the Cory Bernardi camp,” he added.

Asked how he felt about the debate, Carter said it was only doing further harm.

“I think the problem is politicians are using young, innocent, in-pain children as political bullets. That is unacceptable,” he said, to applause.

“Kids are being hurt when they hear this entire debate about, ‘oh, well, no we can’t really talk about that, it’s not really safe’. It is still creating the idea that they are different, that they are wrong, that they are not accepted.

“That is driving kids to hurt themselves, that is driving kids to kill themselves.”

'10yo kids with ice pipes in their mouths'

Fellow panellist, independent senator Jacqui Lambie, praised Carter for standing up and speaking out, before speaking directly to Mr Frydenberg about bullying.

"I tell you what mate, it is a reality, it's happening, let's talk about it. That's the trouble with you conservatives," she said, calling for more discussion.

She also said the program should be available in primary schools, saying: "Why not, there are kids out there of 10 years of age with an ice pipe in their mouths so please don't tell me these things aren't going on."

Language does matter. Safe Schools should be mandatory, says @clementine_ford There is nothing wrong #QandA https://t.co/Pvj85fW1Bm

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) March 21, 2016

Writer and feminist Clementine Ford said the program should be mandatory in all schools, and even for some adults.

"Absolutely nobody is going to be hurt by teaching kindness... by teaching love, by teaching an embrace of diversity and by actually teaching that people come in all sorts of different kinds of packages and that there is nothing wrong with that," she said.

Mr Andrews said he would continue to back the program because it "saves lives".

"I've sat and listened to people who have said exactly that story and people older, Carter, who say, 'Gee, I wish this program had been for me when I was at school'," Mr Andrews said.

"It's working, it's here to stay. If the Federal Government wants to compromise it, we will fund it fully and properly in every Government secondary school across our state, no questions asked."

This post originally appeared on ABC News.