In this series of blogs, we present some of our success stories that highlight a program from each of our three focus areas.
In this blog, we look at a "Healthy Relationships" personal story. We believe good relationships and sexual health are inextricably linked. Our emphasis on healthy relationships means that our programs are having an impact on the issues of bullying, homophobia, and violence prevention, just to name a few. Whether it’s with parents, professionals or youth, our programs discuss healthy decision-making, communication, self-esteem and awareness of your own boundaries and values.
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Healthy
Relationships: Leslie’s Story - WiseGuyz
“It’s
all boys all the time,” laughs Leslie McRae, Vice Principal at Sherwood School.
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| Leslie McRae, Vice Principal at Sherwood School (photo credit: Evolution New Media) |
Those
boys are a small group of grade nine students taking part in the WiseGuyz
program at the school. Once a week they meet in a designated classroom for part
of the school day and Tristan from Calgary Sexual Health Centre facilitates the
program.
To someone
peeking inside the classroom, sometimes it looks like a regular healthy
sexuality class, sometimes it looks like boys roughhousing and joking around.
But something more important is really going on.
This is
a program that teaches boys about consent and healthy relationships, not just
STIs and anatomy. It’s challenging the boys’ views of masculinity and teaching
them to look critically at the media messages they see every day. It’s tackling
bullying and homophobia. It’s a program about respect and empathy.
“This is
really the only thing out there that’s just for boys,” says McRae. “It’s so
important to have something directed just to them about things they wonder
about, delivered by people who can address those things.”
“They
have somebody who’s open to hearing things that they’re talking about and lets
them be silly and ask weird questions.”
She
recently saw the impact of the program when an RCMP officer came in to talk to
the school.
“It was
a fairly deep presentation; he talks about things like suicide and bullying,
family issues that you don’t talk about. The boys who stayed behind after the
assembly to shake his hand and say thank you were the WiseGuyz.”
“They
grow from the program, and they feel more confident,” she says. “They start to
look at bigger issues, rather than just ‘if it’s my issue’ – that’s really what
I see from their actions.”
McRae
also says that one of the most unexpected outcomes for her is the bonds the
boys make with one another: “There are boys who are friends because of the
program who never would’ve been friends without it.”
When
asked why the boys want to be there and keep coming back, her answer is simple.
“They
know they’re valued,” she says. “For some boys it helps keep them in school,
helps keep them engaged, helps keep them connected to somebody who, if or when
things go south in the future, they have one more positive adult role model to
look to.”
McRae
can’t say enough good things about the program and looks forward to working
with WiseGuyz again in the new school year.
“It’s hard to be a teenager, whether you’re a
girl or a boy,” says McRae. “The more people you have in your life telling you
positive things, helping you be informed, creating a structure you can access
resources from – it’s not such a big unknown world.”
