Students were encouraged to think about and take responsibility for their own actions, safety and well-being.  For some students this was a huge issue in their lives, as they had been on the receiving end of some domestic violence in the past.

The program is an excellent way of young people being given the opportunity to work with other young people.  Our students were responsive and open to the ideas presented and have indicated that they learned a lot about themselves from the sessions. 

One young gentleman said:

“Seriously, they were really good talking to us”.  “They were like teachers but not, so we could talk to them as if they were like us”.  “It was good to hear about other kids’ lives too”.  “Made you think yours wasn’t so bad in some ways.”

Paula Tonkin - Teacher Christies Beach High School

This program has been of enormous benefit to our school for 2 main reasons.

Firstly, it has provided our senior students with a valuable learning program that has not only allowed them to gain SACE accreditation through Community Studies at both Stage 1 or Stage 2, but has empowered and enriched the lives of the students themselves. They opted for KSSC for a variety of reasons from being targets of domestic violence themselves through to having a strong sense of community and wanting to make a difference in the world. In 2006 the number of students joining KSSC was so great that a separate program was able to be run at the school.

 Secondly, we have valued the peer educators who have come into our school to educate our Yr 10 students about domestic violence. Most students would identify that DV includes physical violence but most had never thought about the other forms of abuse of power. Raising awareness of DV in the community is an important step in counteracting it. Young people need to know that certain behaviours are not tolerated by society and through this program they now are empowered to address DV issues for themselves or their acquaintances. We have welcomed the peer educators into the school for the past 4 years and staff who have supervised have commented on their positive, interactive and fun approach, their knowledge and presentation skills.

KSSC in SACE

KSSC program is so versatile and can be written up as 2 units at  Stage

1 (1CM12) or Stage 2 (2IC12) contract under Community Studies. It can also be modified slightly to be completed as a group 2 subject (ie involving maths, science or technology - eg: this could be achieved by having the student prepare and present an audio-visual presentation for delivery in schools or by making a DVD that raises awareness of domestic violence).