Katherine High year 11 students participated in a serious discussion over two days last week that challenged their ideas about domestic violence and sexual assault.
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YMCA acting chief executive officer Tammy Frean said the ‘LoveBites’ prevention program focused on domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and awareness and had been in the works with the high school for a while.
“We had a big talk with the focus being around the girls, like yes we can give them support, yes we can help them get away from domestic and family violence and yes we can help them report sexual assault,” Mrs Frean said.
“But the boys really hold the key to that, preventing it and taking a stand and saying ‘no more’.”
Katherine High School year 11 coordinator Rodney Cremona said the information delivered to the boys around domestic violence would help generate further learning.
“We need to educate them more in that area,” he said.
“Because they understand the physical and the emotional abuse but they don’t understand there’s the financial hardship/emotional abuse type stuff too.”
The boys and girls split up into groups and spent one day focused on sexual assault while the other group learnt about domestic violence and then the next day would swap.
“It’s challenged a lot of their thought processes,” Mr Cremona said.
“I think they are still coming to grips with that challenge, but its a good conversation starter.”
On the last day, the groups spent the afternoon working on art projects that helped cement the messages of the program.
“I think its empowered them to make better choices,” Mrs Frean said.
“I think that something they’ve walked away with today is knowing that they can make a difference.”
The program has been running for a few years but Mrs Frean said they would be implementing it across the board so year 9, 10 and 11 students would participate in the future.
