How inclusive programming can strengthen a community
Being a newcomer to Canada can be both exciting and daunting. It often means being immersed in a foreign culture and language and, if you’re a teenager, it can feel like you’re straddling two worlds at home and school.
I recently spoke with Gina McKay, a facilitator with the Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, about how her organization is working with newcomer and refugee youth. The Canadian Women’s Foundation provides multi-year funding to SERC’s Newcomer Youth & Healthy Relationships program, which serves youth aged 12-17 in two inner-city schools.
When we talk about healthy relationships, the language we use can make people feel excluded and uncomfortable, or on the other hand, understood and accepted. The same goes for programs that teach young people about healthy relationships: it’s important for these programs to be inclusive of gender and all walks of life.
You’re 14 and you’re at a party. A group of friends come up to you and one pulls out a cigarette. “Wanna smoke?” she asks, as she lights up and starts passing it around.
CHALLENGE: Research shows that when girls are constantly exposed to sexualized, unrealistic media images of women, their self-confidence is undermined and they become highly critical of their bodies.
