ChargerStand: Taking Steps in the Right Direction Against Sexual Assault

You may have heard of the Time’s Up and the Me Too movement. Both are strong steps toward a country and world where people feel safe to stand up against sexual assault. These movements have given women like Tarana Burke, the founder of the Me Too movement, and Nina Shaw, the founder of Time’s Up, a platform to be heard and listened to.

The University of Rhode Island has created their own stance against sexual assault with the iStand initiative for a bystander intervention program. Its purpose is to promote the mediation of sexual violence with bystanders and to promote a positive atmosphere. The Chariho Physical Education Department saw this program as a challenge to bring to the students at Chariho High School.

On Tuesday, November 6th, the PE department presented to the Chariho faculty on the iStand initiative, and more specifically ChargerStand. The presentation included a TEDx talk on sexual assault and violence by a Chariho ninth grader, Anna LaCroix, who presented at the University of Rhode Island last year. She explains that the “127 billion dollars spent on rape cases last year could have been used for educational programs, starting at the middle school level.”

The PE department listened to LaCroix’s recommendation and announced to the faculty on how they plan to change the health curriculum to teach the values of ChargerStand. By doing this, they want to implement ChargerStand by making it more than just about sexual assault. They also want to incorporate acts against bullying, violence, and any other types of negative behavior in order to make Chariho a more positive and inclusive atmosphere.

At the close of the meeting, student leaders dispersed around the room spoke what they stood for. “I stand for love,” “I stand for gender equality,” and “I stand for accepting other’s differences” were just a few of the statements spoken by students. The opportunity to share an “I stand” statement was also given to faculty which brought powerful energy to the ChargerStand project.

Keep a lookout for the iStand protocols in your health and PE classes, and remember we are one step closer towards a more positive and welcoming school!

Photo courtesy of the University of Rhode Island.