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RCMP and harm reduction work with Grade 7s

Healthy relationships, the meaning of consent and the smart use of social media are things Grade 7s in Williams Lake are learning about with input from a social agency and the police.
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Healthy relationships, the meaning of consent and the smart use of social media are things Grade 7s in Williams Lake are learning about with input from a social agency and the police.

As part of two existing programs — Strength from Within for the boys and Beauty from the Inside Out for the girls — Jordan Davis, harm reduction co-ordinator with the Boys and Girls Club of Williams Lake and District, RCMP Staff Sgt. Del Byron and Const. Katie Jakubowski lead discussions on these topics.

“We do lots of work with the RCMP because we want to do more relationship building with you guys and law enforcement,” Davis tells a group of boys during one of the sessions held at the Thompson Rivers University Williams Lake campus. “There is a lot of stuff that goes on that could be easily changed if you are comfortable with going to the police.”

When asked for some components of a healthy relationship, the boys said communication, compassion, having similar interests, expressing feelings, keeping their own personality, respect, being non-abusive and trusting were important.

“A lot of adults have a difficult time communicating with each other,” Davis tells the students. “If you can learn early how to communicate now you will be way ahead of the game.”

While people in the past may have grown up hearing about “getting to first base” youth today are being encouraged to consider the “pizza model,” Davis notes. “With the pizza model people have to negotiate and communicate to make a decision which ties in with every relationship in your lives.”

After defining consent as making a mutual and voluntary decision, Davis invites the students to add their own ideas.

“Voluntary means one person is not forcing the other,” one boys suggests.

“As well as physical coercion, emotional coercion is a big thing,” Davis responds.

Byron asks the boys if they think they can have good communication without trust?

“It’s about being fair and letting everyone share their ideas and views to make decisions,” he says.

During a session with the girls, consensual issues are discussed and Jakubowski tells them legally a person cannot give consent if they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“Maybe does not mean yes, maybe means no,” Davis adds.

Both the girls and boys hear about the dangers of sending photographs through social media because once they are in the hands of someone else the sender has lost control.

If the photographs show nudity, then if they are distributed a person can be charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, Byron explains.

“It’s girls and boys that are being objectified,” Davis says. “And being valued as a sexual object is not OK.”

On Thursday Davis asks the girls to list five things they like about being a girl and tells them on Tuesday the other girls did not list anything.

In five minutes the Thursday group comes up with a list of 10 things that range from being smart, maturing faster, having more confidence and the ability to express themselves easily.

Denise Deschene, a school-based prevention worker with Interior Health Mental Health Substance Use, says the program for the girls has been in Williams Lake for about 20 years and was initially developed by a woman in North Vancouver.

“Troy Forcier designed the program for the boys,” Deschene notes.

“It was originally a tobacco program designed for girls between the ages of 12 to 15.”

Lake City Secondary School Columneetza counsellor Dwayne Benvin says the boys’ program has been around for 12 years.



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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