Upper School Begins Important Conversation through One Love Foundation Workshop

On Wednesday December 6, Indian Creek ninth through twelfth grade students participated in an important workshop provided by the One Love Foundation. This workshop addressed the dangers of relationship violence, how to recognize symptoms of unhealthy relationships, and what actions can be taken to prevent them.

To begin the workshop, students watched a film entitled, “Escalation,” which portrayed an abusive relationship between two college students that ends in the girlfriend’s death. The film was created from the perspective of many observers of a relationship, whose observations fit together like puzzle pieces after the fact and should have indicated that there was trouble. One Love representative Grace Carmichael introduced the film, reminding the students that relationships come in all forms and asked the students to look beyond the specific relationship of these two characters to pay attention to the behaviors that can lead to violence.

After watching the film, the students broke out into groups, based on their Human Development classes, to discuss the film. These conversations were facilitated by 14 Upper School students who were trained as facilitators last week by a representative of One Love. These productive discussions explored some early warning signs of relationship abuse and what students can do if they witness or experience these behaviors.

The statistics around relationship abuse are almost incomprehensible. According to the One Love Foundation, one in three women and one in four men will experience relationship violence in their lifetime, and 100% of people will be involved in an unhealthy relationship at some point. Indian Creek feels that it is important to arm students with information so that they have tools to use when or if they find themselves in such a situation. Over 185,000 students have been trained through One Love workshops around the country, and Indian Creek is pleased to be among them. By educating and starting the necessary conversations about the differences in healthy and unhealthy relationships, we are not only making our community stronger, but also saving lives.

Upper School Associate Head Matt McCormick was optimistic about the impact that the One Love workshop might have. “I am so proud of our students and the maturity that they have shown in having these conversations with each other. I am also proud of Indian Creek for bringing in this important program and starting the conversation with our students. Our hope is that today is just the beginning of many important conversations about positive relationships that will occur both at school and at home.”

For more information about the One Love Foundation and relationship abuse, visit their website at joinonelove.org.