Mangere College says It's Not OK; resources for working with schools
Tue 03 Feb 2015
South Auckland school Mangere College and the It's Not OK campaign teamed up to address family violence in 2014. Mangere College student leadership ...
South Auckland school Mangere College and the It's Not OK campaign teamed up to address family violence in 2014.
Mangere College student leadership and the It's Not OK champion Jude Simpson began the school campaign following a strategic planning camp.
Students hosted an It's Not OK Day with student and youth speakers, music and games, all centred around the message of It's Not OK. The student leadership were promoted as 'Go To' people if students needed someone to talk to about family violence. School Counsellor Kathryn Barclay said "We know that young people are way more likely to talk to peers and family and friends than they are coming to professionals like me, so we wanted to train students to be that first line of contact."
The campaign was supported by other activities throughout the year and by creative mediums, such as t-shirts, pens, posters, flyers and drink bottles all in a distinctive colour orange chosen by students to represent their campaign. The merchandise also served to get the message back into the community that family violence is not OK.
Jude Simpson said the commitment of the school was one of the reasons the campaign was so successful. Students challenged the teachers to incorporate the It's Not OK message within curriculum areas. Jude said "They've got students now seeking help around family violence because they know that the school will back them. I would love to see every school in this country become a It's Not OK school."
Watch the YouTube clip of how students led the Mangere College campaign.
Resources for working with schools
The UK agency, Against Violence and Abuse (AVA), have launched a 'one stop shop' website to support practitioners working with young people in schools and other educational or youth centres to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG). The AVA Digital Prevention Platform, funded by Comic Relief provides:
- A free e-learning training resource to help practitioners identify the main forms of violence, warning signs and how to respond to disclosure
- A comprehensive toolkit which covers how to implement a programme of work to respond to VAWG
- Specific sections for pupil referral units, youth offending teams, primary and secondary schools and youth centres
- A searchable database of lesson plans, resources and films.
In Bristol, the prevention project The Bristol Ideal works with schools to achieve a set of standards which aim to make a real impact on promoting healthy relationships and reducing domestic and sexual violence. Delivered by a multi-agency working group, schools are supported with free support, resources and training and receive a Bristol Ideal Award upon completion. The Bristol Ideal is part of the city's strategy for ending violence and abuse and is part of the prevention agenda.
In the United States, the Texas Council on Family Violence hosts a searchable database Teaching to Transform which offers "hundreds of resources for work to end relationship violence across the lifespan" including curricula and lesson plans to videos, games, guides, and posters.
In New Zealand, the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (SuPERU) commissioned a rapid review of international and New Zealand evidence and relevant literature on what works in school based relationship education programmes to prevent intimate partner violence:
In 2014, ACC piloted Mates and Dates, a sexual and dating violence prevention programme.
For more resources on family violence and education settings, search the NZFVC library or contact NZFVC.
Media
Mangere students take a stand, Ministry of Social Development Rise Magazine, 01.03.2015
Mangere College DVD, Its Not OK, 26.01.2015
Image: Mangere Mountain Path To Summit by Uploader. Licence: Public Domain Dedication
Image: Uploader