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EuroWRC - Education |
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A Violence Prevention Program for At-Risk Adolescents YOUTH RELATIONSHIP PROJECT NEWSLETTERS Several of our groups which began meeting last Fall have now completed their programs. Thanks to all the teens who participated in the group programs. The teens have generously given their time and energy in a number of ways to this project beginning with the group program. They meet for 2 hours per week for 18 weeks with adult cofacilitators to talk about dating relationships. We hope that the teens will continue to stay in contact with staff from the project office and will continue to meet on a regular basis to continue the wonderful social action work they began in these groups. As a component of the research we are conducting with the teens we hope to continue to meet with them approximately twice per year to learn about their dating relationships.A special thank you is also extended to the cofacilitators for dedicating a great deal of time and energy in preparing for and implementing the weekly sessions. Their commitment to this project is greatly appreciated.Groups that have just completed their programs are the Children's Aid Society agencies of London/Middlesex, St. Thomas and Oxford County. This group of 8 teenagers met on a weekly basis at Youth Opportunities Unlimited, London. They were assisted in their weekly sessions by Deborah Reitzel-Jaffe, a member of the project staff and Gary Price, youth worker of the London Children's Aid Society. This group was also co-facilitated by a former group participant Chris Werner, a student at H.B. Beal Secondary School. March/Walk-a-thon A march/walk-a-thon was organized by the teens and took place on Saturday, February 11, 1995. The march began at the Victoria Park Band shell where the teens were met by friends and supporters and local politicians including Irene Mathyssen, Betty Howard, and Megan Walker. The march proceeded on to City Hall where a letter was presented to Deputy Mayor Grant Hopcroft thanking the City of London for the work that is being done to end violence against women. The march then continued on to the Battered Women's Advocacy Center where the money raised (approximately $600.00) from the march was presented to Julie Lee, Executive Director of the Center. Oxford County Children's Aid SocietyThis group consisted of 13 teenagers who traveled from various locations in Oxford County to attend group each Wednesday afternoon at the Oxford CAS building. The teens were cofacilitated by Wendy Rhindress and Bruce Burbank, both employees of the Oxford CAS agency. Mall Display The Oxford County teens chose to develop a mall display as their social action event. This event took place at Blandford Square Mall in Woodstock on Friday, February 17 and Saturday, October 18, 1995. The mall display was developed to raise awareness in the community about the issues of violence against women. St. Thomas Family and Children's Services A group of 11 teens from the Elgin County area came together at the St. Thomas agency with the assistance of Paul Ballantyne and Kim Smith, both of the St. Thomas agency. Dance-a-thon A dance-a-thon was held on Wednesday, February 8, 1995 at the St. Thomas agency. The teens danced to raise $400.00 for the St. Thomas YWCA Women's Shelter.All the CAS groups were very successful in raising awareness regarding the issues of violence against women. Each group also received media coverage of their events, making themselves known in their communities. What Happens when Group is Finished? Quite often teens are reluctant to have a group program end, especially if good peer and communication relationships were developed throughout the course of the 18 weeks.In London, the Battered Women's Advocacy Center has generously donated space for teens in the London area to continue to meet to discuss issues and further work in social action.The groups in Woodstock and St. Thomas also plan to continue to meet on a regular basis to plan events for their areas. OACAS Youth in Care Network We hope that the OACAS Youth in Care Network willfacilitate communication between youth in the various participating agencies as a means of sharing experiences and ideas.For more information about the group program see the upcoming issue of NOTICE: the Youth in Care Newsletter. School Groups Groups were also facilitated in two local area schools this fall:
Strathroy District Collegiate Institute (SDCI) At SDCI, 78 Grade 11 students participated in the program as part of their family studies or physical education curriculum.Four groups were facilitated by teams comprised of teachers and community social workers. These groups faced many challenges in implementing the program in the same format as the Children's Aid Society groups.A special thank you goes to Karen Bumstead for her support and commitment to facilitating this project in the school environment. We also wish to thank the following agencies for providing staff as facilitators for the program Changing Ways (London) Inc.
We'd like to thank Jane Bowley for her cooperation and assistance in allowing us to administer questionnaires to students at Glencoe District High School assessing the dating relationships of males and females. Approximately 70 students participated in the study. This group of students formed a comparison group for the students at SDCI. Thames Secondary School Thames Secondary School is facilitating a group for 14 adolescents who are withdrawn from their regular classes twice per week to attend the group sessions. This group is facilitated by Carolyn Grasley, a member of the YRP project staff, Adele Lasuita, guidance counselor at Thames Secondary School, and Rick Darwish, a group home worker in the city of London. This group is approximately half way through the program. We look forward to exciting social action work from this group as well later this spring. Advisory Committee Our Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives of participating CAS agencies, participating schools, local community social service agencies, and teen advisors has been very helpful in establishing strong community support for this project. Through the efforts and good words of Bob Pittman and Karen Shaw we were able to present the project to other CAS agencies in the area. OACAS In January, we had the opportunity to present our program to representatives of the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies (OACAS), Diane Cresswell and Kim Way. We hope that through their efforts and contacts we may be able to gather support or interest of other CAS agencies in the province. This would provide us with an opportunity to meet and assess the relationships needs of a larger number of youth in the province. Donations We were very fortunate to be the recipients of generous donations of food for our youth at their meetings. The teens are always hungry and food goes a long way to keeping them interested and motivated. Contributors included:
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