This post is part of a spotlight series on the BOLT Safety platform called 'Spotlight: Perspectives', where members of our community can use the platform to discuss issues that matter to them, related to personal safety, violence, discrimination, abuse, access to basic resources, and mental health. You can filter the Hub content to read posts specifically in this series.
This post we're sharing has been written by an anonymous contributor, and is about how educational institutions play a role in informing a culture of consent.
Content warning: this article discusses sexual violence and domestic abuse. If you are in urgent need of help, please contact your local emergency response services (911) or a crisis support line (like VictimLINK at 1-800-563-0808).
Sexual Violence: My Nonexistent Education
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I have attended a Catholic, all-boys school since grade seven. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed the time at my school and everything that comes along with it, like the sports programs, extra-curriculars, and friends I’ve made along the way. But above all, I treasured the education I received. Emphasis on the use of the past tense there. In my latter years of high school, I discovered the hard truth about issues that I was under the impression were taboo and insignificant because they were simply not spoken about in schools.
How utterly wrong I was…
I was shocked to hear about lived experiences and read articles about teenagers facing domestic abuse and surviving rape, and even more shocked to see that people I knew had been going through the same things, and had kept the incidents a secret. The statistics I read, such as how 1 in 9 girls under 18 experience sexual abuse (RAINN.org) contradicted what I had been taught and therefore the opinions I had formulated. The reality was, at my preppy, fancy private school, I was being shrouded from a serious world issue. It made me think, and not for the first time, how truly insufficient the high school curriculum in Vancouver really is. I remember being disappointed in the pocket-sized units about residential schools in Canada, and the complete lack of what should be mandatory lessons on life skills, such as how to do taxes, and the responsibilities of using a credit card. My Catholic school prides itself on providing a premier Catholic education, and features ‘Essential Elements’ that exemplify the school’s goals. One of these Essential Elements is to “Stand in Solidarity with Those Marginalized by Poverty and Injustice.” The arrant void of any information regarding rape culture or domestic violence within my entire high school life ignores the “and Injustice” aspect of this Essential Element completely.
Especially being a Catholic boys school, rape prevention education is even more important than at a co-ed school. Boys who go to school with boys tend to be sillier and joke around about issues. The thing with jokes is that all participants need to be aware that it is a joke, and understand the gravity of the actual issue at hand. I have noticed that the lines have begun to blur between innocent jokes and blatant disrespect. The problem is there are no girls - who tend to disproportionately face the bulk of sexual violence and abuse - to downplay the “humour” and negligence of these boys. In my opinion, the only way to edify the minds of these boys to the realities of the matters that they joke about is through education, yet there is none at my school. I am a firm believer in the importance of education about all topics, as the only way to truly show people what is right is to introduce these ideas at a young age. It only gets more difficult to explain the truths behind stigmatized issues as people grow older and become more rooted in their own opinions.
My frustration at my school for neglecting to include any education on sexual abuse and domestic violence led me to BOLT Safety Society. What they are doing is crucial to understanding our global issues and how we can combat them into submission. Even though my school needs to do a better job at teaching us the realities of sexual abuse and violence, and how us young men can be catalysts to changing the status quo, this isn’t an issue that only my school faces. Universities continue to be known for date rape, and my local university shut down frat parties before the COVID-19 pandemic due to the presence of sexual violence. I believe a culture of consent needs to be nurtured and cultivated in high schools across Canada and the world. It all comes back to my personal golden rule, which is general respect for each other, the world, and ourselves.
If you think your school may also be under-educating you and your peers on these issues, don’t be afraid to contact your school administrators. Youth are the change; we will lead the world in the future, so we must build a future worth living in.
-Anonymous
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