Stopping Gender-Based Violence With Early Education: PEACE Program's Impact

Now that summer break has officially started, we’re reflecting on this past year and are celebrating some of the accomplishments of our PEACE Program.

Our team and PEACE Counsellors have been committed to delivering education on healthy relationships and violence prevention, which had directly reached around 500 students on the North Shore this past school year.

By addressing these issues early, we can tackle the root causes of gender-based violence.

A highlight of our efforts was the "Violence is Preventable (VIP)" presentation series for Grade 6 and 7 classes, organized in partnership with local public schools. Tailored for young audiences, these engaging sessions equipped students with invaluable tools to recognize and prevent violence, emphasizing their well-being and safety with these three key points:

1. It is not your fault.

2. You are not alone.

3. Do not get in the middle of two people fighting.

Why We Did This

By fostering open, respectful discussions and providing a safe space to explore these critical topics, we aimed to help students better understand healthy boundaries within different kinds of relationships, along with the social norms that perpetuate gender-based violence.

For some students, this was their first open discussion about violence in relationships. We talked about warning signs and green flags in relationships and emphasized that abusive behaviours are often learned and can be changed through counseling and conversations with people we trust. Addressing these behaviours is crucial to forming strong, healthy relationships in the future.

These sessions also helped students see that their classmates and teachers care, and gave light to resources if they need help for themselves or someone they know.

Our Heartfelt Thanks

We’d like to thank Westview Elementary School, Norgate Elementary School, Queensbury Elementary School, Carson Graham Secondary, the BC Lions, and Ending Violence BC for partnering with us and welcoming us into your classrooms. Thank you for laying the foundation for a future free from gender-based violence. We can’t wait to do this again next year.

Violence Is Preventable

If you are interested in hosting a “Violence is Preventable” presentation with our PEACE Counsellors, please email us at admin@nscss.net, or visit our PEACE Program web page for more details.