Thanks to you, about 4,000 Grade 8 students across New Brunswick have gained the skills to create healthy, equal relationships and help break the cycle of gender-based violence. And thousands more students will learn these powerful skills in years to come.
A pilot project funded by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, together with our donors and partners, paved the way for this programming to be adopted into the middle school curriculum in New Brunswick.
“We can’t thank the Canadian Women’s Foundation enough – if it hadn’t been for this funding, we would never have achieved this long-term, systemic change,” says Julia Forgrave, Executive Director of Second Stage Safe Haven women’s transition housing in New Brunswick.
She and her colleagues at Second Stage knew that healthy relationship programming for teens of all genders could play a key role in reducing gender-based violence. In 2017, they learned about The Fourth R, a program that teaches young people skills like setting boundaries, assertive communication, and how to recognize the signs of an unhealthy relationship. With a grant from the Canadian Women’s Foundation in 2018, Second Stage was equipped to conduct research and pilot The Fourth R program in 11 schools, in collaboration with Healthy Learners in School nurses and the Anglophone South School District.
“Feedback from students and teachers was phenomenal,” Julia says. Not only were students engaged in learning healthy relationship skills, but teachers could see the impact on classroom dynamics and behaviour. “They reported that the pilot was creating healthier and safer spaces within the school.”
Since the pilot, your generous giving has continued to empower Second Stage’s work to expand the program, in collaboration with Healthy Learners in School nurses, all four anglophone school districts, and the provincial Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. After a long journey, The Fourth R was officially added to the curriculum in the fall of 2023.
Second Stage has trained more than 200 teachers and guidance counsellors to deliver the program. Since 2018, the Fourth R Healthy Relationships Plus Program for Grade 8 has been used in over 80 schools in New Brunswick and will be expanded to francophone schools in the coming years. Specific training has been provided to high school facilitators working with young people in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
With the national spike in gender-based violence in the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increased concerns about tech-facilitated abuse, Julia says it’s even more essential for young people to build strong relationship skills and know where they can reach out for help.
“One of our main goals was for this project to be sustainable, so it’s very rewarding to know the impacts on young people’s lives and futures will continue.”
Published July 2024
