Global media outreach is great, but we know we need to produce measurable change locally first. The Mission at HUHS, Jessie’s high school: create a safe and empowered reporting environment, and then measurably decrease interpersonal violence experienced by HUHS students. Not just violence at school, but in every corner of their lives outside school as well.
Once we produce a proven effective model, phase two will be to share it with other schools across the county, the state, and eventually the country and world. Interpersonal violence, for us, is Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, Bullying, Human Trafficking, and Domestic Violence. We have Stakeholders from inside and outside the school, including administrators, teachers, school counselors, parents, students, and our local service organization for victims of DV and SA.
We’ve designed a three-pronged approach. The first prong is “Initiating Stories”, a school wide assembly beginning each semester with a personal story shared by a powerful speaker. The purpose of our “initiating stories” is to capture young hearts and minds and create interest in our cause. But we know we need more. Prong two is “Student Curriculum”. We will do fifteen mini lessons, five to seven minutes each, in homerooms all year long, three lessons in each of our five areas of violence. Lessons will be interactive and include impactful made-for-social-media videos that students can share, so we are always expanding beyond the HUHS community. Students will experience sixty lessons and eight powerful initiating stories during their high school career. Prong three: staff training in Trauma Informed Care, Motivational Interviewing, and Healing Focused Care.
If we are to accomplish the impossible, transform culture and end violence against women, this school program may be the engine that drives the change.
