- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor
The recent conviction of a former teacher for sexual exploitation of a student - the third such charges of current or former Bluewater District School Board employees in the past seven years - moved us to ask the Board a question.
"What is the Board doing to ensure that, to the best of their ability, no student will again become the target of grooming or victim of sexual exploitation by an employee of the school board?"
The following is the response from the Communications Officer, after follow-up with a lot of staff and a diligent effort to get materials.
"Through the ongoing efforts of many dedicated and caring members within our local public education system, including staff, students, trustees, and partners, Bluewater District School Board is continually supporting student safety and well-being.
Student Senate
The 2021 – 2022 Student Senate selected gender-based violence as a focus for the current school year to help better inform their fellow students on this critically important topic. This focus was in response to post-secondary student concerns regarding safety on university campuses, and a desire to ensure Bluewater students were well-informed in this area.
Jon Farmer of The Men's Program was invited to speak to the senate this past October. He talked about ways to get the conversation started in secondary schools, speakers who might be invited in, and provided resources for the senators to start the work in their respective schools.
Websites regarding healthy relationships, sexual relationships, and supportive friendships:
- Teen Health Source: http://teenhealthsource.com/topics/relationships/
- https://www.loveisrespect.org/
- http://www.hurondart.ca/youth/healthy-relationships/
- Kids Help Phone blog posts and resources:
https://kidshelpphone.ca/?s=sexual+assault&s_page=support
- PREVNet: https://youthdatingviolence.prevnet.ca/learn-more/everyone/
Awareness materials:
- Draw the Line: http://www.draw-the-line.ca/gethelp.html
- METRAC “Are You Cool?”: https://www.metrac.org/wp-
content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2014/07/ru_cool.pdf
o All resources:
https://www.metrac.org/resources/?doing_wp_cron=1635887340.8234601
020812988281250
- Teen Power and Control Wheel and Equality Wheel for Teens are great awareness tools but need a conversation for context
- Educational Activities/Resources | Violence Prevention Grey Bruce – These activities were designed for in class discussions but could be run by informal clubs to start the conversation
Support for survivors:
- Members of VPGB with descriptions of their services: Help | Violence Prevention Grey Bruce o Supports available through Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Centre, Victim Services, and Women’s House
Bluewater Mental Health Team
In alignment with Bluewater District School Board’s strategic priority to ensure a ‘Safe Supportive Learning Community’, there has been an increasingly strong focus in recent years on expanding mental health supports and resources for students. In 2013, Bluewater hired its first Mental Health Lead, which served as the only system level mental health position for several years. However, over the course of the past few years, staffing in this area has grown from one centralized mental health staff position to a team of seven. The Mental Health Team works with schools across the district and key partners, such as Canadian Mental Health Association Grey Bruce, Keystone Child, Youth and Family Services, and School Mental Health Ontario, to provide age- appropriate programming and awareness on a wide variety on wellness related topics.
Bluewater’s mental health strategy is based on the following three-tiered, differentiated support model for students:
Tier 1 – Promotion and Prevention:
o Promotes mentally healthy habits, social emotional learning, and partnerships with parents, students, and staff
Tier 2 – Targeted Prevention:
o Includes intervention services, such as structured counselling and targeted social-emotional skills training
Tier 3 – Intensive Intervention and Assessment:
o Supports students requiring more intensive assessment and intervention services Through the Mental Health Team, students in Grades 7 to 12 are now able to access ongoing mental health support with a trusted adult by submitting a confidential online form to be followed up by a member of the team.
Health and Physical Education Curriculum
The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education, which was revised and re-released in 2019, prompts conversations and awareness from a young age at school, which include differentiating between caring and exploitative behaviours, bullying, consent, personal safety, decision making – assessing risk, and care for self and others, among other topics.
The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9-12: Health and Physical Education, 2015 focuses on
helping students to develop skills and knowledge around healthy choices and
relationships, and the importance of having a strong understanding of consent and
sexual limits, among other topics.
Safe and Accepting Schools
Like all school boards in Ontario, Bluewater is required to follow the Ministry of Education’s Safe and Accepting Schools policies, which include Policy/Program Memorandum 9: Reporting of Children in Need of Protection.
Sexual Abuse Prevention Program
As of January 2022, all Ontario certified teachers, new applicants, and re-applicants are required to complete an online sexual abuse prevention program mandated by the Ontario College of Teachers. In Bluewater, professional development time has been designated to enable teachers to complete this mandatory training.
The program includes video modules that cover topics, such as how to recognize when a student may be disclosing that abuse has occurred, and the importance of healthy relationships with trusted adults to assist with the recovery of victims of abuse.
source: Bluewater District School Board
