LOVES-ME-NOT. Healthy Relationships Workshop Evaluation Summary

Transcription

1 LOVES-ME-NOT Healthy Relationships Workshop Evaluation Summary

2 Background The Loves-Me-Not healthy relationships programme was piloted in nine New Zealand high schools during May and June Its purpose is to educate young people to reject unhealthy, controlling and abusive relationships either as an abuser, a victim or a bystander. The programme is a one day workshop delivered to all Year 12 students at each school. Each group of 25 students is co-facilitated by a classroom teacher, Police family violence specialist and an NGO family violence specialist; at least one of those must be male. All facilitators attended a one day training prior to delivering the workshop. A parents evening was held at each school before the workshop was delivered. The programme has been developed by NZ Police in partnership with the Sophie Elliott Foundation and the It s not OK Campaign, based at the Ministry of Social Development. It builds on a programme run at Onslow College in Wellington from 2010 to 2012 which was positively evaluated in The nine participating schools in the pilot were chosen to reflect different student populations high and low decile, rural and city, boys only, girls only, co-ed and a range of ethnicities. An evaluation was commissioned from Pukeko Research Ltd, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods including questionnaires, interviews, observations and focus groups. Key findings of the evaluation are: Student evaluations were very positive with the overall average exceeding 4 (5 being best score) Maori and Pasifika students rated the course higher than Pakeha students Students reported good recall of all topics 7 13 weeks later The programme can be effectively run across a wide range of schools The programme had measurable impact with regards to students talking among friends and family, their attitudes towards relationships and deciding to be an active bystander. Disclosures Procedures for disclosures are explained at the beginning of the day. Students are asked not to speak about personal issues in the classroom. There were disclosures as an immediate result of the programme in half the schools. In one school there was a surprising disclosure concerning the place where a number of girls worked, relating to sexual grooming by an employer. 2

3 Results The evaluation sought views from student participants, facilitators and schools. Results are set out below. Student Views The 708 student evaluations paint a very positive picture of the Loves-Me-Not programme. The programme is remarkably successful from the student perspective. Students were asked how much they learned with 1 meaning nothing and 5 meaning a huge amount. The average result for this question was 4.05 out of a possible 5, with no significant gender differences showing up. Four topics were most popular with students. Angela Barker s Story 4.43 Consent 4.3 Sexual Abuse 4.25 Healthy/Unhealthy Relationships 4.2 Angela s story was extremely popular. It was the highest ranked aspect of the day and was also mentioned as the best part of the day by many students in their qualitative comments. The most popular score was 5 out of 5. This was a popular topic which led to significant and lively debates. It was the highest scoring area after Angela s story. A number of students said this was the topic where they learned the most. The healthy and unhealthy relationship components also scored highly with a huge amount being the most popular option for both. The Angela Barker DVD tells the story of a 16 year old Australian woman severely beaten by her boyfriend. She survived but is brain damaged. Her friends and family members are interviewed. The DVD was described as very inspirational, capturing and helpful. Students appreciated seeing a real life example and no-one was concerned that it was over a decade old and Australian. The interest from students was across all ethnic groups. Angela s story was a very good way to show us the effects of abuse. 3

4 The Sexual Abuse section, an activity where students were asked to agree or disagree with statements about sexual abuse, was very popular. Comments included: The agree/disagree continuum was great and allowed discussion and people to raise their opinions. It was very interesting learning about all the different types of abuse. I learnt a lot about sexual assault and how to prevent it. It also made me realise I may have been stalked/intimidated. Learning about the things that happen in the world. Realising that sexual abuse happens a lot more than what I knew. It was engaging and got us thinking, moving backward and forward, but most of all the open discussions we had I loved. The interactive nature of Loves-Me-Not was popular. Students commented enthusiastically on being able to discuss topics and interact with their classmates in a safe environment. It wasn t boring and was interactive. There was a small gender difference overall girls marked slightly higher than boys on every topic. The Loves-Me-Not programme focuses on male violence against women because that is the most common and deadly relationship violence in New Zealand. Apart from a very small number (less than 10) commenting that the programme was sexist and understated female violence against males, comments from boys were similar to those of girls. Negative comments from students related to too much sitting still, too much reading and writing, not enough food and hot classrooms. These will be addressed for roll out of the programme to further schools. Ethnic or cultural differences The main result relating to ethnic or cultural responses to the programme is that Maori and Pasifika students rated the programme slightly higher than their Pakeha peers, especially the Angela Barker story. Results for this were: Pakeha 4.4 Maori 4.5 Pasifika 4.6. The sexual abuse section was also rated higher by Maori and Pasifika students. Results were: Pakeha 4.2 Maori 4.4 Pasifika 4.4. All groups rated their knowledge gained about where to go for help the same. 4

5 Facilitators Facilitators were positive overall about the training and delivery of the programme, rating it 4.06 out of 5 for timing, content and working in a team of facilitators. They rated the programme highly for relevance, with more than half labelling the programme very relevant, especially teachers. Facilitators also rated the effectiveness of the content highly an average of 4.06 out of a possible 5. I believe that the programme opens the eyes of those who weren t sure if what they were witnessing was abnormal or violent. For some people it triggered warning signs and we had two people disclose violence. Angela s story is really good and pertinent to the age group. (Facilitator) This was such a positive and informative programme that I have received calls from students and parents complimenting the value of it to them. (Teacher) It is pitched at the right level. The girls are ready at the beginning of the year, the boys by term 2. At Year 11 most students do not have the maturity to respond to the issues in the LMN programme. The year 12 students did and they could relate to the issues associated with age and consent. They are starting to get into such relationships, not all, but at least some of them. Students are out around the town at 16. (Facilitator) I thought the teachers might dominate, but that didn t happen. Everyone contributed. We got to know each other at the training day, but as a local, I already knew most of them. The NZ Police put their senior staff into this programme. They were very experienced people. And they made very informed contributions on the day. (Teacher) Absenteeism on the day was identified as a problem. There is a need to engage the students on the topic prior to the workshop, the evaluation showed. Schools which had raised students interest by running activities prior to the workshop had better attendance. The teachers involved found it interesting and refreshing. Most thought the topics were absolutely correct but there was criticism of the lack of organisation. Some felt the training was rushed and there wasn t enough time to get to know their co-facilitators or the content; there were last minute changes to the content. There should have been more time between training and delivery more time to prepare. There was a lot of content to fit in and activities got a bit repetitive. The day needed more variety and fun activities to break it up. 5

6 Schools Schools were enthusiastic about the programme and the content but several issues were raised: Costs a number of schools noted the need for funding for copying and laminating materials for activities at the workshop and providing lunch on the training and delivery days. Some costs were one off as class sets can be used again. Information some schools felt information came too late and was not complete with regards to their responsibilities. Most schools rearranged staff for the day only one school used relievers. 6

7 Impact of the programme Students were asked to comment on the lasting impact of the programme in a survey 7 13 weeks later. The survey showed Loves-Me-Not had a measurable impact in terms of talking among friends and family about the issues, student attitudes towards relationships and being an active bystander. Responses were received from all nine schools. 90% had talked with someone about the programme. This included friends, siblings or cousins, parents, older family members, partners 40% had been an active bystander as a result of the programme and felt OK about the action they took 55% said they would be more careful in relationships now 85% said they would advise a close friend to attend the programme. It was a really good programme and has made a difference in the way I view things. It was very inspirational and extremely eye opening. I would advise anyone to take part in this programme whether they think they need to or not. I think that even if you do have healthy relationships yourself, it is important to know the signs in order to be able to look out for those around you. I think this programme is very useful and should go to every school around New Zealand. I personally don t have any tragic stories to do with relationships but I know people who have in the past and I didn t know what to say or do to help them out. But since this programme I now feel confident to help people out. I know the signs to look for. This programme has enabled me to give my friend advice about her relationship which was headed towards being unhealthy. That in my town there is 50 cases of domestic violence a week. 7

8 Conclusion The Loves-Me-Not pilot was highly successful. It required complex planning and significant logistics to bring together Police, NGOs and teachers to spend a whole day educating Year 12 students on healthy relationships. It was notable that all parties schools, facilitators and students felt that it was a worthwhile workshop where real learning took place. One of the goals of the pilot was to test out the programme in a wide variety of schools. It was able to be successfully mounted and run with all participants in nine diverse schools in many parts of the country. Many of the participating schools plan to run the programme again. While the details are not perfect in each place and unevenness of delivery is an issue, overall the pilot was delivered successfully and there is good information to improve the workshop for future delivery.