Advocates for Youth’s Post

The male students “ranked” female peers using categories which included “object” and “unrapeable”. This is an example of a student conduct issue needing to be assessed through multiple lenses, resulting in individual consequences through to school-wide corrective actions and quality improvement relating to: #culture #psychosocialsafety #sexualharassment #childsafety #riskmanagement #abuseprevention Student safety, culture and wellbeing concerns? We can help. https://lnkd.in/gKZQ4uwm

I absolutely appreciate and agree Lisa Hanlon’s passionate statement that the rights of the girls affected in this situation have to be the overriding priority. I have two concerns here and both relate to the safety of girls and women in our society. Firstly, is the behaviour of these boys stymptomatic of a wider problem in the school and the action of expelling them is made to make the school appear tough on this behaviour without doing anything to address the underlining problem? If so, expelling them is just sweeping the problem under the carpet and nothing has been done to protect the safety and wellbeing of the girls at the school. I do have some sympathy with the concept of restorative justice mentioned in another comment. The boys would definitely need to be separated from their peers for a time and until thy were able to demonstrate a real appreciation of the harm they had done. But could you imagine these boys standing up in front of the whole school and acknowledging how their actions had made some of their fellow students feel unsafe and abused. If they boys became ambassadors for respectful relationships. Others have suggested they hope the boys will have appropriate support to recognise how their behaviour has affected others. My fear is this is unlikely to happen. The act of expulsion may be enough to make them to wake up to the significance of what they have done. If it does not, expelling them is likely to make them worse. This leads to my second concern. If these boys just go to another school without further intervention their misogyny may develop into something worse. They may feel resentful. That they were unfairly treated. That others had done things equally wrong but had escaped any serious punishment. Worse though, they may feel that society is stacked against them and women get all the benefits. In this case, expelling them will have made the wider problem of the safety of women and girls worse rather than better.

Navigating sexual assault allegations on college campuses amidst political shifts reveals systemic flaws. Adversarial models often fail to address the complexity of these situations, leaving marginalized students in cycles of trauma. In response, restorative justice emerges as a transformative alternative, prioritizing acknowledgment, repair, and learning. This article advocates for a fundamental overhaul towards a reparative approach, emphasizing healing over conflict—a crucial step towards achieving true justice in higher education.

IN THE NEWS! 📰 Students, faculty, staff distrust state college systems’ handling of Title IX cases Assembly report calls for upgrading of investigations and oversight https://lnkd.in/gwf-aVxZ #titleix #title9 #universityofcalifornia #californiastateuniversity #californiacommunitycollege #california #csu #calstate #sexdiscrimination

https://lnkd.in/grah_ke9 Feeling deeply frustrated and saddened by news of the recent incident at Yarra Valley Grammar. It's disheartening to see that schools still struggle to address toxic behaviour and the harmful pack mentality among students, particularly towards their female peers. This issue is not isolated; it's a continual problem in our community. Schools need to step up and call it out to help elicit change. Female students and staff deserve a safe and respectful environment. School leaders must confront harmful behaviour within their community, refusing to shy away from the necessary difficult conversations, as they take a firm stance against any behaviour that harms or affects members of their community. It's not just about punishment; it's about creating a culture of respect and equality where everyone feels safe and valued. It's incredibly frustrating to witness the lack of consequences for those who perpetrate harassment and assault. When students see offenders getting away with such behaviour, it sends a dangerous message that it's acceptable. Credit to Principal Merry for exemplifying care, sensitivity, and accountability in his response. These principles play a pivotal role in shaping the attitudes and behaviours of young people, not only within the school environment but also in society at large.

Myth: Accommodations give students/adults an unfair advantage; that’s why so many claim to have LD. Fact: Accommodations for LD mirror those for any other legal disability — they exist to level the playing field and help students/adults with LD stand eye-to-eye with their peers. In reality, only 24 percent of college students with LD inform their schools about their condition — indicating that students are not eager to self-disclose, even when doing so would provide them with much-needed accommodations. [Image Description: Two speech bubbles with the words Myth & Fact written inside} LDANB-TAANB #LDAwareness #LearningDisabilities #Troublesdapprentissage

Internal truancy was one of the main reasons cited for us starting work with a new college recently, the burden on staff who have to constantly be on the look out and engage with students who should be elsewhere is a large one. This article is interesting, whilst having a behaviour policy and appropriate sanctions is important, we see that as approaching the problem from one direction. The other direction includes using Safety Wardens who understand the sector, welcome students each day, build relationships without being part of the teaching team and ultimately --> positively influence the culture and behaviour on campus over time. Instead of waiting for bad behaviour or incidents to occur, we aim to engage with students from the moment they arrive on campus. New arrivals don't know any different and therefore are more inclined to behave, returning students gradually improve as they get to know the wardens. Watchword Professional Services #furthereducation https://lnkd.in/es9rw8ac

The Guardian - Hardcore porn, choking and rape: UK universities left to tackle rising tide of sexual assaults This is a very hard article to read, please be aware it contains distressing accounts, it is shocking that incidents like this seem to be on the rise. We have in the past hosted a webinar on domestic abuse among students, and the lack of awareness of this, which is troubling, as students can find it difficult to realise this is what is happening to them, especially with coercive control, we feel awareness of this also needs to be raised, and covered in consent training. Universities seem ill equipped to deal with these situations in house, especially when one side can present a lawyer, and gain an advantage. All incidents need to be dealt with fairly and sympathetically, the guidance from the The 1752 Group is a great starting place for all universities, we worked with them and Georgina Calvert-Lee closely when creating out Code of Practice. Within our Code of Practice we have a whole instrument dedicated to the prevention of student harassment and sexual assault, as part of this, we do require our member universities to give compulsory consent training. Universities need to look at their policies and prevention strategies to ensure this is something that declines. And please get in touch if you would like to know more about our Code of Practice in this area, as you can now just apply this instrument with us, as we are now modular. https://lnkd.in/erVxsrFW