By Danielle Kutchel
Students and teachers from Cranbourne East Secondary College are putting in the hard yards – literally – to counter family violence as part of a school project.
Together, a group from the school will run in teams non-stop for six hours around the school oval, to raise funds for the White Ribbon Foundation.
The initiative is part of the year 12 VCAL class’ Pay it Forward project.
According to teacher Kellie Friso, part of the project involves students coming up with a way to raise money for or awareness of an issue impacting people in the community.
White Ribbon was put forward as an idea and almost three quarters of the class – many of them boys – voted to support the charity.
“That shows me that boys are starting to be concerned about those issues,” Ms Friso said.
“There was a strong support base for this particular charity, which shows a lot about their emotional maturity.”
The idea also tied in with the school’s ‘How to Adult’ classes, which teach students about topics relating to life beyond school and adulthood; the classes touch on responsible relationships and family violence.
Since the topic was decided on, students have been busy making white ribbons and visiting other classrooms in the school to talk about the City of Casey’s track record on domestic violence, sharing statistics and stories.
The VCAL class has set up a GoFundMe and is aiming to raise $500 for White Ribbon. They are also collecting donations through coffee sales at the year 12 coffee shop in the school.
It’s not just about raising money though, Ms Friso said: awareness is also key.
“It opens communication channels with students about family violence. If we don’t open those channels, kids who come from those families won’t open those lines,” she explained.
“This is a way we can introduce it into the curriculum and talk about it. Hopefully every student in the school will have heard about this topic by the time we’re done.”
Fifteen male students will take part in the run, while the others will lead activities on the day, including selling white ribbons, manning a BBQ and selling coffee.
The team-based nature of the run means students can tag each other in so they can continue racking up the steps.
Ms Friso said she had told students to keep going no matter what.
“If you get tired, keep walking because life is tough and the people we’re supporting are tough!” she says.
To support the fundraiser, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/run-for-white-ribbon?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet.
