Violence Prevention in the Curriculum

In 1986, the Council initiated a study of a variety of prevention efforts throughout Canada and the u.s. to determine the most effective method of prevention for our community. After a year of research, the Task Force concluded "that the most comprehensive approach to prevention programming would appear to be through curriculum development." Apart from the family, school is the one institution that influences nearly all children in our society. The time children spend in school is recognized by experts such as Dr. Pat Kincaid from the Ministry of Education and Dr. Peter Jaffe from the London Court Clinic as that which needs to be spent on violence prevention curriculum and experiences.

Dr. Jaffe notes, "It would be a challenge to find any book written on the topic of family violence that does not end with an appeal to school systems for prevention programs." He suggests three specific areas as a basis for such programs: "These areas relate to teacher training, curriculum development and student involvement in addressing family violence." In a recent report to the Standing committee on Health and Welfare, Dr. Jaffe recommended that the federal government work with the provinces to promote strong and consistent violence prevention education in schools.

Traditionally, schools have assumed responsibility for preparing young people for their roles in society. The Ontario Ministry of Education states that its overall purpose is "helping individual learners to achieve their potential in physical, intellectual, emotional, social, cultural, and moral development." Within this broad mandate is a commitment to the whole child and to the development of students' social competence, feelings of well- being, and self-confidence. For students who are victims of family violence, the school environment can provide an alternate reality that challenges beliefs from home such as that "violence is a way to solve problems," or "I am unlovable."

There have already been numerous attempts to conduct prevention programs in the schools but most programs in existence suffer from major flaws. Most have been developed outside the school environment, many by shelters and women's coalitions, for example. Often the lessons emphasize only one issue and are not linked to what the teacher is doing either through curriculum or classroom experiences. These programs may be used in the short term by a highly motivated teacher but have poor staying power, and there is no continuous program that extends across the school years.

The approach for the development of the Family Violence Prevention Program in Hamilton-Wentworth is grass-roots, working with school staff in their own environment. The emerging program is continually shaped by the real needs of students, teachers, administrators, and parents. It is being developed at three levels: primary/junior (including kindergarten to Grade 6); intermediate (including Grade 9 through to OAC-Ontario Academic Credits, formerly Grade 13).

The initial development occurred at the Intermediate level during the 1990-91 school year. Working closely with the staff, our aim was to experience and fully understand their concerns, challenges, and needs in order to carry out a family violence prevention pro- gram and integrate it into the teacher's curriculum and into the fabric of the school. Disclosure of abuse, for example, was one of the issues for which staff expressed much concern. They were anxious about how they would react to a child who was telling a story of abuse, and how they could be helpful when they might be feeling shock, disgust, and anger. Teachers had real fears of revictimizing these children by saying or doing the wrong things.

Critical Learnings

The work during the 1990-91 school year produced a number of significant discoveries. In particular, we defined six areas in which children need to be given knowledge, skills, and attitudes in order to prevent family violence through their own empowerment: Family Violence Awareness (raising awareness that there is violence in some families, that violence is condoned in society, that there are not appropriate or allowable victims); Personal Safety (understanding that some situations are not safe, that problem-solving strategies which avoid harm can be developed, that there are community resources available for assistance); Communications Skills (development of congruent expression of verbal and non-verbal messages, development of assertiveness, active listening, and conflict resolution skills); Healthy Relationships (gaining an awareness of the components of a healthy relationship, using social skills to develop healthy relationships); Self-Esteem (helping students to recognize and appreciate their own worth); and Prevention of Stereotyping (recognizing stereotyping and its effects, learning to value individual uniqueness). These critical learning's provide a foundation for the development of a program that can begin in kindergarten and build to OAC.