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THE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS FOR YOUTH PROGRAM
(2006-2008)
The Healthy Relationships for Youth (HRY) Program is a school based violence prevention program which includes youth as peer educators in the classroom as well as in their schools and communities. The HRY Program delivers a series of twelve sessions within the Grade 9 Health curriculum. The program is offered in all ten high schools in the Strait Regional School Board. It focuses on facilitating youth learning about developing and maintaining healthy relationships.
The HRY Program models healthy adult-youth relationships and empowers youth as leaders by partnering the Grade 9 PDR teacher with youth facilitators and community partners. Each adult and youth team strives to reflect gender as well as other forms of diversity such as race, culture, and ability. In each school, youth teams are recruited from Grades 10 to 12 and trained in leadership, facilitation, and issues discussed in the HRY curriculum.
The HRY curriculum has a diversity focus developed during the Rural Youth Healthy Relationships Education Project. It draws upon the resources provided by other youth violence prevention models which represent best practices in this field. (Find out more...)
Comments from students who participated in the HRY Program include:
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"I respected different races more after the presentation." -Dalbrae Academy "It was useful to go into separate gender groups. My attitude changed towards the guys when they said they cry sometimes." -Strait Area Education & Recreation Centre "I treat girls with more respect after hearing their boundaries." -Strait Area Education & Recreation Centre "My behaviors changed because I learned how to be more assertive and say "no" when I don't want to do something." -Strait Area Education & Recreation Centre "I felt more comfortable when a Youth Facilitator was assisting the class. Made things easier and helped more students participate in activities and class discussions." -Cape Breton Highlands Academy "I learned the correct way to let someone know they are in your boundaries." -HRY student |
The Youth Facilitators reported how they were influenced by participating in the HRY Program.
| "The relationships we had were on a student to student
basis. I wasn't of authority necessarily but I demanded respect
from my students (sic)." "I felt I was really able to talk to the students and they had no problem talking to me." "Once I arrived in the classroom to teach, my eyes were truly opened up to the greatness of the Healthy Relationships for Youth Program. Through lessons on diversity, sexual orientation, power and violence, respect and storytelling, you could tell that many students were gaining respect for each other, were learning what healthy relationships consist of." |
BELIEF STATEMENT:
The Healthy Relationships for Youth Program is based on the belief that sexism, racism and homophobia are forms of oppression which result in violence. Through enhancing awareness of the social context of their lives and promoting skill development to promote healthy interpersonal communication, youth can make positive decisions about their own behavior.
GOAL:
The goal of this work is to reduce the risk of violence for youth through building skills and knowledge related to developing and maintaining healthy relationships.
Objectives
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To engage Grade 9 students in ten school sites within the Strait Regional School Board, in a series of classroom sessions designed to promote healthy and respectful relationships.
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To assist youth in developing the attitudes, values and skills they need to build and maintain healthy relationships.
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To increase students’ understanding of racial/cultural diversity specifically relating to the Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotian community.
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To increase students’ awareness of issues related to violence prevention and social inequities from a gender based perspective.
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To foster youth development which includes: peer support, youth empowerment, youth-adult partnerships, meaningful contribution and experiential learning.
Background
The Healthy Relationships for Youth Program (HRY) (2006-2009) is based in the model developed through the Rural Youth Healthy Relationships Education Project (RYEP) (2001-2006). Healthy Relationships for Youth continues the youth-focused work of the Antigonish Women’s Resource Center (AWRC), values the voices of youth and addresses issues that are of concern to them through research, project work and direct services. The accumulated learnings from this work inform current programming. While the AWRC has provided support services to young women and their families since opening in 1983, community action work on youth issues first emerged in the early 1990s.
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Adolescent Health Project (1990-91) Responding to growing concern around inadequate understanding and response to health needs of teenagers in the community, this project completed a community based needs assessment on adolescent health in Antigonish. A need for increased opportunities for youth to discuss and learn about three key areas emerged; substance abuse, mental health and relationships.
Since that time there have been a number of specific youth-focused programs and projects.
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Teens Take Action (1997-2006) A peer education approach to dating violence and sexual assault initiated in 1997, continued as an annual program for a number of years. Each year, a group of Grade 11 & 12 students participated in training which prepared them to deliver sessions to Grade 8 students. Through skits and classroom discussion, issues were presented relating to recognizing and responding to dating violence and sexual assault.
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Young Women: Exploring Our Lives Together (1999-2003) An after-school program for high school girls who want to talk about the world they live in and issues they face in their lives.
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Adolescents Coming Together For Change (ACT For Change) (1999) The AWRC was instrumental in setting up the ACT For Change Program and Youth Center in 1999.
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Students Against Social Injustice (2000-2002) A group of youth who met regularly to identify, discuss and plan action on social issues.
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Students Acting Against Sexual Harassment (2001) A project that produced an educational resource kit on peer sexual harassment for use by adult and peer educators.
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Inspire (2001 - 2006) An ongoing program designed for adolescent girls who face challenges. This supportive group format allows exploration of personal and social issues and emphasizes self-care and healthy decision making.
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Assessing Youth Homelessness in Antigonish (2002) A project which gathered information about the issues faced by youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. A community forum was held to discuss the findings and to develop a community report.
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Rural Youth Education Project (2002-2006) The RYEP provided school based, violence prevention programming to all grade 7 - 11 students in two rural schools serving diverse student populations. Working to replicate an existing model developed by SWOVA (Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse) adaptations were made most significantly in the area of diversity with specific focus given to diversity of race and sexual orientation while maintaining the gender focus. Click here to find out more about the Rural Youth Education Project.
About Our Funders
Canadian Women’s Foundation 2006-2008 Multi-Year Violence Prevention Grants with Teens:
The Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre (AWRC) has recently been awarded one of four multi-year grants awarded nationally to further their ongoing work of violence prevention with youth.
The stated goal of the Canadian Women’s Foundation is to “prevent violence against women and girls in Canada through work involving girls, or teens (girls and boys age 12 and up, grade 7 to 9)” and their objectives are:
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“to learn more about effective work with teenagers to prevent violence against women and girls”, and
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“to build the effectiveness of community organizations and practitioners.”
(CWF 2006-2008 Multi-Year Violence Prevention Grants with Teens - Grant Information and Selection Criteria)
The first group of grantees receiving this funding includes:
“Healthy Relationships For Youth”
Antigonish Women’s Resource Center, Nova Scotia
www.antigonishwomenscentre.com
“Respectful Relationships”
SWOVA Community Development & Research Society, British
Columbia
www.saltspring.com/swova
“The Fourth R”
University of Western Ontario
www.thefourthr.ca
“Making Waves/Vague par Vague”
New Brunswick
www.mwaves.org
Reports
Healthy Relationships for Youth 2007 Annual Report
Healthy Relationships for Youth 2006-2007 Evaluation Report
Links
Respectful Relationships
SWOVA Community Development & Research
Society, British Columbia
The Fourth R
University of Western Ontario
Making Waves/Vague par Vague”, New Brunswick
Healthy Relationships: A Violence Prevention Curriculum
Men For Change, Nova Scotia
Heartwood Center for Community Youth Development
