Sir Winston Churchill Girl Support Groups
Sir Winston Churchill High School Young Women’s Support Group
For my co-operative education placement at the Multicultural Youth Centre, I was given a task to start a girls’ support group at my school--Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate Vocational Institute. The group would be an extension of the Revolution Girl-Style (REV) / Girl Power program at the Youth Centre. REV was created by the Regional Multicultural Youth Council (RMYC) in 1998 to empower young women to think positively about themselves, share information to enable them to make wise choices and informed decisions.
Pauline Fogarty, a past president of the RMYC who started the Revolution Girl-Style/Girl Power program helped me to get started with the support group. She showed me how to get the girls involved in shaping the direction of the group, and provided me with various resource materials to use for reference. This made the girls assume some ownership of the activities we organized, and encouraged them to play an active role in the group.
To prepare for my first meeting, I was assisted by my co-operative education teacher, Ms. Lower. We met a couple times over lunch during the week leading up to the meeting. We discussed ways to get girls to sign up, what to include on the agenda, when and where to hold the meeting. Because of the size of the school, we decided to consult with the guidance department to identify only the girls they felt would benefit the most from being part of a support group. We sent them invitations, and Tuesday, November 16, 2006 was the launch date. We were to meet over lunch in the Seminar Room next to the library.
Most of the girls invited were Grade 9 students attending high school for the first time. Ms. Lower offered to bring drinks and snacks to create a relaxed atmosphere. A total of 15 girls showed up for the first meeting.
We started with brief introductions of everyone in the room. I then gave a brief overview of the REV program outlining the goals and objectives. Using the REV Girl Power contracts for reference, I explained expectations for the group such as: mutual respect, paying attention, sharing responsibilities, empathy and team spirit.
We encouraged the girls to identify issues of concern to young women at school and in the community. They filled out a simple questionnaire I developed at the Youth Centre listing the issues, and what they wanted done to address them.
Alcohol and drug abuse, low self-esteem, body image, violence, abuse, sexuality, teen pregnancy, and peer pressure, were at the top of the list. Time ran out, and we invited the girls back for a follow-up meeting to complete the exercise. From then on the group met during lunch once a week.
Some of the girls brought their friends, and we moved to Room 116 to accommodate everyone. We used ice breakers to get new girls to know other group members and feel comfortable with each other. I led some sessions and used information from the REV program to encourage discussion. On some occasions we used videos and DVDs as learning tools. Sometimes, I asked the girls to read about a special topic or do some research on issues they had identified as problems.
Ms. Lower was very helpful in encouraging dialogue, and challenging the girls to think critically about situations they are often confronted with. She would ask questions such as: Why do you think some young people drink? Why do people use drugs? Why do you drink? She also used activity sheets and quizzes where the girls had to identify which situations were true or false. For example "Is a girl asking for sex when she dresses provocatively?"
Some answered ‘true’, and others answered ‘false’, even though in this case all the questions were ‘false’. These were very helpful exercises that challenge general trends of thought and common stereotypes. The idea was to teach girls to be assertive, know their rights, and believe in themselves.
We invited guest speakers to cover topics we felt the girls needed to know the facts and the supports available at school and in the community to deal with their problems. One group we brought runs the New Experiences Program at Lakehead’s Children Centre. The presenters who were Lakehead University students explained about the program which deals with alcohol and substance abuse. This is a common problem that affects many people from all races, cultures and backgrounds.
Some meeting lasted longer as the girls stayed behind to ask questions and discuss the issues we had covered. Participants were often asked to share their experiences and encouraged to comment on the presentations. Sometimes, new girls would be shy to talk. But, once they got comfortable, they contributed to the discussions.
At the last meeting before the Christmas Holiday, the Multicultural Youth Centre sponsored a party. All the girls who had been involved with the group came, and we had pizza, pop and juice. It was fun to socialize and I was very impressed that some of the girls came to talk, and thanked us for organizing the support group.
Some things I learned from organizing the support group are being open minded, being observant, and being sensitive to the needs of others. For example, there is no ‘stupid question’ if someone really wants to know. Some girls did not come when certain topics were discussed, because they did not feel comfortable to talk about their situation. Letting them know that they did not have to share anything they did not want to talk about was all the reassurance they needed. Poverty is an issue, and some girls skipped meetings because they had no lunch. Snacks were a real incentive for the girls to participate.
My placement ended in January, and the girls continue to come. I am still helping the group with some members of the RMYC executive attending Churchill. I feel that the program is making a difference and should be expanded to other high schools for girls who need support to deal with peer pressure and cope with transition into high schools.
Ashley Atatise, Regional Multicultural Youth Council