Dr. Brass school hosted the Teen Girl Safety Conference on Friday, March 18. The day featured guest speakers and the topics included Internet safety, Alcohol and Drugs and their impact on safety, self-defense, staying safe in the community and making healthy choices.
Cst. Erin Dunphy of the Yorkton City detachment hosted the internet safety session and spoke about chat rooms, facebook, cyber bullying and marketing schemes. The basis of this session was for the girls to think about who they were talking to and what type of information they are making public.
Next up was a session on alcohol and drugs and their impact on safety and focused on how taking these substances can increase your vulnerability to crime. These substances can impair your perception and decision making skills, your communication skills, your emotional state, and overall judgment. The girls participated in exercises involving screwing a nut onto a bolt wearing mittens and 3D glasses to show how drugs and alcohol can impair your judgement and ability to function normally.
Chief Instructor Mike Forster from the Yorkton Martial Arts Training Center was the self defense speaker and showed the girls various moves and techniques to defend themselves and stay safe. Melinda Davis helped with the demonstrations.
Cst. Erin Dunphy spoke again, this time focusing on safety in the community. She focused on walking alone, how to be safe at home, healthy relationships, unhealthy relationships and sexual assault.
The final session helped pull all topics together. The main points included believing in yourself and understanding that you are worthwhile to protect, how to be assertive in your life and not being afraid to say "No". Topics also included the importance of staying aware, trusting your intuition, and the idea to set clear boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not.
The evaluations from the girls showed that the day was very valuable to them. The goal of the day was to provide education and skill building to assist the girls in making healthy choices in their lives. The day was made possible by a generous grant from The Canadian Women's Foundation. The event was facilitated and planned by the Shelwin House Outreach Program, Shelwin House and Outreach Worker Michelle Goulden.
