e-newsletter - violence free communities august … · have been diligently working in the...
TRANSCRIPT
E-Newsletter
August 2018
February 2017
WEEKOF CONSENT
Violence Free Communities
PO Box 21920
Henderson, Auckland 0612
Ph: 09 8374849
www.violencefreecommunities.org
www.facebook.com/
ViolenceFreeCommunities
In this issue:
1. Violence Free Communities update
2. Jade Speaks Up, second year of pilot, an update
3. We’ve been thinking about… Dad’s making a
difference.
Father’s Day Photo Competition - a call to action
Violence Free Communities: An update…
Elizabeth Hauraki – General Manager Ngapuhi, Ngati Porou Over the past three months the Violence Free Communities project teams have been diligently working in the community delivering our violence prevention programmes. All our programmes aim to create in children the knowledge, skills and confidence to keep themselves safe from violence which they can take with them into their everyday lives.
Youth CyberZone – Week of Consent Since our last newsletter we have been busy working with the Youth CyberZone Team leaders to prepare for the ‘Week of Consent’. The purpose of the week was to help students navigate online consent and in particular to draw attention to the issue of shared nudes.
“Week of Consent is now in four high schools! Our Youth CyberZone teams collaborated with PSSP and Rape Prevention Education to help resource students about consent online and offline. The YCZ teams focussed on addressing the sharing of nudes you may have received online. We created the “Stop the Share’ Poster Challenge where we shared 4 different situations, each with steps you can take to stop the share and where you can go to get some help. “If you have received a nude and have passed it on, that is not OK. Students are telling us that there are two activities online that are happening and aren’t good – sharing nudes you have received and bullying someone in private group chats. Our teams are raising awareness with skills to change that.” says Kristi Shaw, Youth CyberZone Project Coordinator.
Toddler Day Out May 2018
VFC Board member
Andrew Lum
Jade Speaks Up Jade Speaks Up is into its second phase of pilot. Elaine Dyer, our project leader will share with you later in this newsletter results from the first year of pilot and developments within this programme. Toddler Day Out & Great Parenting Fair – Spring 2018 Plans for the next VFC – Toddler Day Out and Great Parenting Fair, are well underway and are sure to provide an exciting line-up. Children will be entertained throughout the day with a myriad of games, educational activities, dancing on stage to the entertainer’s fun programmes and the ever popular messy play areas, will give children the opportunity to get their hands dirty and have a go. With the inclusion of the fun ‘photo booth’ a big drawcard, attendees will have the opportunity to take a piece of TDO home with them. As well as children’s activities, valuable information for parents will be onsite and are sure to help many from the diverse range of different cultures and ethnicities who join us at this event. Following on from changes introduced at our TDO event in May, we hope to expand and grow our educational workshop sessions, which were a great hit and really popular with all who attended. This is an exciting and popular event on VFC’s calendar so we want to encourage as many families as we can to join us for this great FREE FUN DAY. Our Amazing Place OAP is a model programme designed to get people to explore their own community, understand the resources in their community and connect with each other. They are free community events which have been running for six years now where people, places, businesses and services are all profiled and discovered in a fun treasure hunt trail around a local neighbourhood. Themes for the events can be any of the following: youth wellbeing, the environment, families, violence free or ‘discover your neighbourhood. A route for the treasure hunt, is created by the different stakeholders ranging from childcare centres, schools, police, local service providers, libraries, local businesses, and involve individuals and groups presenting their paintings, music, gardens and vistas, and community organisations showing off their products and services. There are games, activities, and conversations peppered around the route which ends with a great party and prize-giving. Working closely with Housing New Zealand, our aim is to deliver two OAP Projects in Auckland in the New Year. Board Member Appointment The Board of Violence Free Communities warmly welcomes Andrew Lum, a tertiary qualified senior Finance Executive with international experience. Andrew has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting & Management and holds membership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants; Institute of Directors New Zealand and Australia; NZ Chinese Association; NZ Asian Leadership; and Business Mentors with Auckland Chamber of Commerce. Andrew is married with children and lives in central Auckland. If you want to play an important role on the Board of Violence Free Communities, please feel free to give me a call or email a brief biography to [email protected].
JADE SPEAKS UP
Jades Speaks Up video images
www.violencefreecommunities.org
www.facebook.com/
ViolenceFreeCommunities
www.jadespeaksup.co.nz
Jade Speaks Up: Year 2 of Pilot, an update.
By Elaine Dyer, Project Manager
We are excited to share the news that we have been able to complete an
in-depth piece of research into the first year of our ACC funded pilot. We
involved 1300 children from 47 classrooms in eight schools (seven in
Auckland and one in the Bay of Plenty). The goal of our evaluation of the
Jade Speaks Up programme was to demonstrate that a relatively small and
short-term intervention giving year 5-8 school children the tools to
develop trusting relationships and the strategies to keep themselves safe
from violence, could result in children feeling safer and more resilient and
in teachers finding the programme most effective in the areas of
relationship learning.
The first year of this enquiry has shown overall that the programme has
been successful in achieving its stated goals. However, a more detailed
analysis has shown many areas for improvement, such as allowing more
time for the programme to run, a greater focus on teacher support,
meeting the specific needs of each classroom and keeping the learnings
from the programme alive after it has finished. How best to engage parents
is also a key question in this second phase of the pilot study
It concerned us to see that we were able to show that 46% of children were
in the category of “at risk” of psychological distress according to two
reputable international measures. From 2007 to 2017 the percent of
children (aged 0-14) with a diagnosed mental illness trebled to 7%
(Ministry of Health, 2017).
Overall there was a significant improvement in the combined measure of
well-being and depression between pre-test and post-test which was
sustained into the follow-up test, six months later. The percent of children
meeting the “at risk” criteria fell by 11% between pre- and the post-tests,
with the greatest improvement shown by the 78% of children who were
positive about the programme and who had significantly better uptake of
JSU practices than children who were negative (6%) or neutral (16%).
However, these two latter groups improved most in the follow-up
assessment.
In the meantime, we are working with the 2018 group of students and
schools, two of which are repeating the programme for the second year.
We have several schools in Dunedin who are reporting exciting uptake by
their students. Some of the things we learned last year have made this
year’s process smoother, with an updated manual and improved teacher
training.
● A Year 7 girl student went to the neighbours and phoned the police during a domestic violence incident. The student had recently shifted to the town and did not have a strong support network. She also self-referred to the school counsellor after the incident and talked the counsellor through the steps she had taken in implementing her JSU safety plan to keep herself and others safe. She said that the jingle taught in the programme was what kept playing over in her mind in this scary situation.
We’ve been thinking . . . about Dad’s making a difference
Father’s day is celebrated in NZ on the 1st Sunday of September – this
year the 2nd.
It’s a celebration that honors dads, fathers, step-fathers, foster dads,
father-in-laws, grandads, grandfathers and father-figures and the
difference they make in their child(ren)’s lives. It is celebrated in 40+
countries throughout the world, though the date it is observed varies.
The first recorded observance in NZ was in 1929. Although it’s become
increasingly commercialized, father’s day is a chance to show our love
and appreciation: often through sharing a meal, presents, a shared
experience or activity, or giving Dads a chance to put their feet up.
We’ve asked 4 community organisations that work with Dad’s why Dad’s
DO make a difference. Here’s what they said:
Manalive, Lifewise, Mens Shed
Father and Child Trust (Brendon Smith)
It may be argued that children can get everything they need from one
parent. This is possible, but without help likely to result in one exhausted
parent!
From early pregnancy and first parenting months, an involved father can
help, support or arrange to meet the needs of both the mother and child.
A dad is vital to recovery from a tricky birth or through relationship
changes and perinatal adjustment.
Men are prewired to be caring parents and children benefit immensely
from the ways dads are different. From a child’s earliest days, dads add
extras, whakapapa understanding, family traditions and helping expand
their children’s self-esteem.
Dads play different and often with physical contact, bringing healthy
connection and in the form of tickle or play fights, vital skills in
resourcefulness, understanding strength and developing resilience.
Girls and boys benefit from knowing a safe version of a male, a man who
cares, shares his emotions, looks after the children on his own, supports
the mother with respect and gives her a break!
Modern science, alongside mother nature, says a good bond with both
parents sets a child up for life. If baby gets safe attachment to mum and
dad, they are better emotionally, socially and academically.
Parents who work as a team, demonstrate a consistent front and don't
leave any gaps for the child to slip through. They have to give each other
space and support, knowing that plus for a child’s long term happiness,
success or productivity, at least one happy, successful parent is
paramount.
Is it fair to deprive babies of vital play or a father’s lifelong involved
support? Does this place all the burden of parenting, unfairly on one
parent?
We hope mums, dads, families and professionals encourage involved
fathers. Good outcomes for mothers and children probably depend on
one.
Or include quotes on fatherhood from Michael Baxter and Gary Stewart
Put in here resources to help Dad’s???? - see research.
Make dad’s day special
👍 Breakfast in bed, a treat for every
dad
👍 Download all of Dad’s favourite
songs onto a CD
👍 Make a book of all the things you
have learnt from your Dad
👍 Make a special sweet tooth
basket for Dad with some of his
favourite treats
Inspirational quotes
“Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad”. Anne Geddes
“When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back” Linda Poindexter
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” Jim Valvano
“Sometimes the poorest dad leaves his children the greatest inheritance.” Ruth E Renkel
Violence Free Communities
PO Box 21920
Henderson, Auckland 0612
Ph: 09 8374849
www.violencefreecommunities.org
www.facebook.com/
ViolenceFreeCommunities
DADS MAKING A DIFFERENCE PHOTO SPREAD
1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15.
Voting will be open from Wednesday 22 – 29 August. All you have
to do is go onto our facebook page:
www.facebook.com/ViolenceFreeCommunities, (click here) find the
Dad’s making a difference album and ‘like’ your favourite photo.
The photo with the most ‘likes’ on Wednesday 29 August at 5pm
will win name the donated prize. They will also pick their favourite
organization (from the 4 contributing community organisations that
work with Dad) and VFC will sponsor them to attend our Toddler
Day Out later this year.
What are you doing to celebrate the role your
father figures play in your life?
Have your say…. We would love to hear from you – your
comments, suggestions and ideas. So please keep in touch,
email us, like our facebook page, and check out our
website. We hope you enjoy the read!
Let us know what you would like to see in our e-newsletter.
Contact: [email protected]
Thank you:
Lincoln Road for supporting
our photocompetion
WEEK OF CONSENT PHOTO’S
Violence Free Communities
PO Box 21920
Henderson, Auckland 0612
Ph: 09 8374849
www.violencefreecommunities.org
www.facebook.com/
ViolenceFreeCommunities