A prevention program aimed at educating and giving pre- and pubescent students from grades 5 to 8, the skills required to choose and maintain healthy relationships. This program deals with issues of violence by focusing on the following themes:

 

• Respect
• Bullying
• Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships

 

The Kit includes:

 

• Presenter's guide
• Class activities (pre-activities)
• Presentation material
• Class activities (Post-activities)

 

Respect, Bullying, Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships

 

This kit, published in 1998, is a tool aimed at teaching pre- and pubescent students, from grades 5 to 8, the knowledge required to choose and maintain healthy dating relationships. In doing so, our goal is to significantly reduce, and eventually eradicate, violence in relationships. We hope to provide students in this age category with basic information to help them treat others with respect. We trust these ideas will be transferred into their dating relationships as well as other relationships they choose to develop. By providing a non-threatening forum, we anticipate open and frank discussion. We sought out, viewed and studied a multitude of programs, but found that very few addressed these topics from a dating perspective. We feel we have something UNIQUE.

 

The kit was updated in 2002 to include information on gay/lesbian bullying. A research project concluded in 2003 demonstrates that IUTM is effective in helping the target age group learn what assertive behaviours or abusive attitudes and behaviours are. The research document is available on request.