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On the 9th of January 2023, students from Year 7 gathered for a special workshop led by the charitable foundation 'Action Breaks Silence', who aim to stop discrimination based violence across the UK by giving a variety of educational speeches to people of all ages.
The assemblies were split into boys and girls. In the boys’ assembly, we started listing the things and people we love. After doing this, we were given a metaphorical box of chocolates that we can give to people we love and when we show them love, the idea of this was to also keep some for yourself. Then they said that self esteem was like a see-saw, with selflessness (giving to others and not to yourself) selfishness (not giving to others but giving to yourself) on the other side. This led us onto how there are many pressures of being male referring to how society has normalised men being always strong, never crying, looking buff, etc. etc.
These pressures are usually the cause of many conflicts. We continued to talk about what these pressures can cause (toxic masculinity) where the worst thing that can happen is murder, followed by rape, and so on. Lastly, the assembly covered what to do to be a good 'upstander' -someone that helps the victim- as opposed to a bystander.
The girls’ assembly was scheduled in a different way. We split our workshop into two halves. One half was for the sole purpose of educating us about how important it was to be aware of our surroundings because anything could happen. During this time, we also learned and practised saying a phrase that was meant to make us feel more confident in ourselves. The trick was to put your hands on your hips and say at the top of your lungs, ‘ I AM A WARRIOR!’ before tests or anything that may be nerve-racking. After doing so, it is meant to be relieving and all your worries should be decreased. To finish off the first part, they let us contribute by giving everyone the chance to ask questions to get a better understanding. The second half was all about self-defence and how knowing some basic moves could save your life. They showed us how the different moves could be important and might buy you a few seconds to go and seek help. Then, after giving a thorough demonstration, they got out protection equipment and gave us the chance to try it out ourselves a few times. The key places to hit were:
The windpipe (the hard bit in your throat) - this can get your attacker out of breath for just enough time for you to get away.
Shoulder - the muscle there can really hurt when hit with a strong force.
Leg - the leg is the way people walk and run, if you have a limp or a pain in your leg, you wouldn’t be able to run as far at a fast speed.
Rather than just going for the fight first thing, you should always try to reason with the person but not too much if you could tell that the person has a temper. Fighting should be the last resort. The most important thing is to be able to stand up for yourself and others when there is truly nothing else to be done.
As a result of these workshops, Year 7 came out with a better understanding of being a better upstander in difficult situations and facing challenges more confidently. This includes helping and defending others, yourself and how to maintain a happy and safe lifestyle. If talks like these spread to everyone, the world will be a much better, much safer environment to live in.
Written by Maya Jain and Jan Szewczyk with feedback from Jasmine Rahman (Year 7 students at time of writing)
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