Healthy Relationships - Kia Kaha Program

Today, I sat in with Year 9 ASP while they participated in the Kia Kaha program which is about building healthy relationships.  We talked about the importance of working with people and how good relationships are beneficial.  All different types of relationships such as siblings, sport teams, work collegues, all take work.  

The student's brainstormed, "What does a healthy relationship look like?"

They came up with:

See - smiles, team work, passion, honesty,
Hear - laugh, positive comments, healthy communication, compliments, encouragement,
Feel - happy, secure, safe, respected, loved, trust, important, special, heard, valued, included, 

We then watched a short video clip called Ivan by Gabe Pope.  It was about a student being picked on as he was poor and smelt. No one was speaking up. Some laughed, others ignored what was happening.  After class, a girl talked to him about what was happening, she showed support.  Ivan now had one person who was on his side, lead the way and others backed her and him. 

This discussion then moved on to how other people's words become your inner voice.  It is important to recognise that what people say is more about them. It can be helpful to tell yourself that "they don't know me so why should I take on what they say".  

Bullying is not ok.  If you are being picked on at school..how can you focus and learn.  If you witness bullying it is not ok to do nothing.   It is also important to remember that the bully might be a nice person but his behaviour is not acceptable. 

To sum it up, if there are healthy relationship in class there are positive outcomes and it provides a better learning environment.  Talk about people in a positive light, be respectful and show empathy to others.  Everyone is responsible.  It takes work but is worth it.  

My thoughts:  It was fantastic to see this topic addressed and I am pleased to see that they will be continuing with the Kia Kaha program next year.  It would be fantastic to see all teachers involved in the program as well so that we can consistently include the same messages in all our classrooms. Good relationships are important, we need to be mindful of others and the journey they are on. Working together is better than being against each other.