Bringing Violence Prevention to the North
In a classroom in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, students leave their books and desks to one side, gathering in a circle in the middle of the room.
They are about to begin a warm-up exercise as part of the Healthy Relationships Plus program developed by the Fourth R, a violence-prevention organization based in London, ON. The Fourth R’s healthy relationships curriculum is already offered in 5,000 schools across Canada. Now, funding from the Canadian Women’s Foundation is helping expand the program into schools in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Raising children to be active and responsible community members is a hard task for every parent. Part of the challenge is that our parenting style comes from the way we were raised. While we try to prepare our kids (and ourselves) for every possible problem that could arise, sometimes we forget about one little detail making kids' life different from our own: the Internet. We’ve become familiar with the Internet in older age, but many kids today are adept with smartphones and tablets before they even learn to walk. They see the Internet as a tool for finding answers to every question they might have. It’s not a bad way to see the global web, but it is crucial for children to understand that the Internet can be as dangerous as it is useful.
In high school Ben Lord attended “Making Waves,” a violence prevention program that continues to reverberate through his life. As told to Diane Hill.
Every parent has those moments when we’re suddenly reminded how quickly our child is growing up: the first step, the first tooth, the first time they walk to school without us. For many parents, one of the most challenging milestones is realizing our child is interested in “romance” and dating. The best way to prepare them—and protect them—is to teach them how to build strong, healthy relationships.
