November is Family Violence Prevention Month, and the Airdrie RCMP detachment is taking steps to educate high-school students on the warning signs of unhealthy relationships in an effort to combat abuse.
“It’s important that we build up our youths’ self-esteem so they don’t feel like they have to tolerate something toxic and unhealthy, and that everybody knows that they deserve to be safe all the time and they deserve to be respected within the relationship," said Const. Megan Evans, a member of Airdrie RCMP’s Domestic Violence Unit. "And that they also, as a partner, need to reciprocate that to their partner.”
Evans, who also sits on Airdrie’s Family Violence Prevention Month Committee, said this year, the committee wanted to raise awareness on the topic of domestic violence among Airdrie’s youth – a demographic that has not been a focus in the past.
“We built this presentation along with [Airdrie and District Victims Assistance Society (ADVAS)],” Evans said, adding RCMP and ADVAS have been working on the project for about six months.
The detachment reached out to local high schools, and was invited to give presentations at Bert Church High School, George McDougall High School, W.H. Croxford High School and St. Martin de Porres High School. Throughout November, Grade-11 students at the four schools have attended a presentation from Racha El-Dib, an advocate for family violence prevention who lost her sister to domestic homicide in early 2018.
The presentation focuses on providing students with “the tools to bring some knowledge into adulthood [of] what a healthy relationship should look like,” Evans said.
“We’re just hoping that this will reduce present domestic violence, and then future domestic violence, as well,” she said.
Warning signs of an unhealthy relationship include isolation, jealousy, possessiveness, double standards, belittling or name-calling, controlling behaviour, threats of self-harm, roughhousing and forcefully grabbing. The presentations also touch on non-consensual sex and physical violence, Evans said.
“I think it’s important for every age demographic to hear about it, but they’re definitely starting to get into those serious relationships once they’re in that high-school setting,” she added.
Also intended to help students look out for their friends, the presentations identify problematic behaviours they can watch for as an outsider.
“We don’t want the bystander effect to happen,” Evans said. “We want them to acknowledge when something doesn’t look healthy and to be supportive for their friends.”
The presentation also informs students about available resources, either through the school system – for example, Stepping Stones to Mental Health, a provincial mental health capacity-building project – or in the community, like Community Links and ADVAS.
Evans emphasized the need for those in an unhealthy relationship to talk to someone.
“Some people feel comfortable talking to their family, some people feel comfortable talking to school guidance counsellors, a person at their church or faith group, a police officer,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who it is, as long as they’re talking to someone about it.”
RCMP has committed to at least two presentations at each school, and according to Evans, is willing to conduct more in the new year if the schools feel it necessary to adequately reach the student population. The detachment plans to host presentations at schools in Crossfield and Beiseker in 2020, as well.
So far, the presentations have been well-received by both school staff and students, Evans said.
“It’s really heartening to see that everybody is open to having a discussion about this, because it’s not a positive discussion to be had – but it’s an important one,” she said.
