DAY 1: INTRODUCTION & SAFETY PLANNING
Length of Session: 30 – 50 minutes
Introductions
Take a few minutes to introduce yourself, where you are from and why are you are here today.
- Acknowledge the traditional territory you are on.
- Thank the teacher for having you in their classroom.
- Let the children know what to expect, tell them the number of presentations you will be doing.
- You can ask the teacher beforehand what is appropriate in terms of self-care in the school setting, such as stepping outside of classroom for a few minutes or going to the bathroom or visiting the school counsellor. Remind the class that you will be available after every session if anyone needs support or has questions, which includes wanting support because you know someone else is having this experience.
Dialogue to Introduce the Presentation
“Hello everyone! I am happy to be there today and I am looking forward to sharing this meaningful time together. In my work, I help kids of all ages stay safe in their friendships and homes. I also help kids who may have been scared, confused or upset because one adult in their home is hurting another adult.”
“I work for a program called the PEACE Program and we are sharing this presentation today on the Violence is Preventable (VIP) Program. I am visiting all kinds of classrooms in BC for all ages of students, some classrooms just like this one. I am visiting these classrooms because my program wants every child in our community to know three main messages. If you forget anything else I say today, my name, or where I am from, that’s okay, but I do want you to remember these three main messages.” This can be a nice lead into the messages shared in the introduction and detailed in an age-appropriate way below.
The Three Main Messages
Use this exercise to further brainstorm about who is responsible for the violence, and how to start talking about safety. Discuss the three main messages with the group. One way to share the messages effectively
is to use a puppet, as demonstrated in this video by Tracy Myers.
- Violence is not your fault.
It is never the fault of children and youth if they feel unsafe when experiencing domestic violence.
Ask the class: Who is responsible for violence? - You are not alone.
Discuss with the class: children and youth often feel along with there is fighting at home, and the violence may be scary. Explain that part of the reason the VIP Program is here today is to emphasize that they are not alone and to talk about safety. - There are people who can help.
Discuss with the class: Who are the safe adults in their lives? What is the safe thing to do when there is domestic violence? Brainstorm safe options, such as contacting a safe adult.
Have the class repeat the three main messages with you and explain that you are now going to spend a few minutes brainstorming about how to stay safe.
Grounding Exercise
Assess the energy in the room. You may need to do a grounding exercise to help children be present and focused during the presentation.
See Appendix A for the tip sheet on grounding exercises.
Activity: Defining Violence and Abuse
Violence or abuse is when we use our body or our words to control and hurt someone else. When someone hurts your, or someone else’s, body or feelings, on purpose, it can be violence or abuse.
Brainstorm with the class: How do you think children and youth who experience violence or abuse feel? How may they respond? What do you think children and youth who experience violence understand?
Expand the brainstorm: Include behaviours that can be characterized as bullying. How do you think children and youth who experience bullying feel? How do they respond? What do you think children and youth who experience bullying understand?
Activity – Safety Planning Group Brainstorm
This activity helps students compile a list of things that they can do to keep themselves safe in potentially dangerous or abusive situations.
Make a list on the board or a flip chart of all the suggestions from the class.
This activity is a great opportunity for children to think about their lives and safety and to discuss what they are already doing to keep themselves safe and to brainstorm with their classmates’ new ways to stay safe.
Activity – Safety Planning Worksheet
Hand out the Safety Planning Worksheets to the students. With students in grades K-3, VIP presenters should expect that many children will not be able to read or write. VIP presenters should clearly share with kids that they can write names, draw places and draw faces of people in their world who they can talk to if they have a problem. Check to see if they know how they can get in touch with their safe adult.
You can also look around the room and identify the classroom teacher, support staff, school counsellors, administrator’s etc. as potential safe people.
You may also introduce the idea of 911 here. If kids identify they have no one they can talk to, you can encourage them to put 911 on their plan.
An age-appropriate description of the Kids Help Phone can also be useful here. Kids Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only national 24-hour, bilingual and anonymous phone counselling, web counselling and referral service for children and youth. You can reach a counsellor by calling 1-800-668-6868 or texting the number 686868. You may wish to write these numbers on the board or flip chart paper for students or provide it to the school staff if they do not have the phone number.
Activity – Who Is in My Circle
Hand out the Who is in My Circle worksheet to the students and ask them to think about who is in their circle? Who do they go to for support? Who do they ask if they need help? Ask the students to write down the names of these people in their circle.
Closing
Consider running another grounding exercise if necessary. Please refer to Appendix A for sample grounding exercises.
Recap the three main messages with the class. Ask – Can anyone remember any of our three messages?
Thank them for being a wonderful class. Please let the students know what information you will be sending home with them such as, VIP post cards, VIP wallet cards, agency brochure, PEACE Program brochure, and any other additional resources. This may vary for each VIP site.