Students don high heels for good cause
Sheldon-Williams classmates take part in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event
On Friday afternoon, male students at Sheldon-Williams Collegiate donned red high heels to trek through their school’s halls.
The building rang with laughter and the click of high heels on tile as the teenagers slowly navigated a trail of hallways and stairs as part of the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event.
The school’s Leadership 20/30 students organized the event as part of their class’s larger Night Light Initiative in partnership with Regina’s YWCA.
“We’re aiming to raise $25,000 for the YWCA that goes toward starting a new program there, new to Saskatchewan. It’s the White Ribbon Campaign,” said Grace Franks, a Grade 12 student who helped organize the event.
The White Ribbon Campaign aims to educate men about toxic masculinity and start conversations about domestic violence “so they never commit, condone or stay silent about domestic violence against women and children,” said Franks.
“I think the event Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is great because it lets men kinda step into the shoes of women and metaphorically see the struggles that they have to face in our society,” said Josh Anderson, a Grade 12 student who helps lead the Night Light Initiative.
“It’s been awesome just to see the awareness and the change that we can make in our community in such a short amount of time, especially for just being a bunch of teenagers with a vision,” he said.
Anderson said the student response to the event has been great, and he hopes the school can become more comfortable talking about domestic violence.
“I think all the guys are a little uncomfortable for sure, it’s definitely a change of pace, but it’s been great so far.”
It’s important to get the guys involved, said Franks. “Sometimes when you talk about domestic violence, it is only focused on women and we want to sort of change that conversation to help the men get involved.”
For Franks, the event has been eye-opening.
“There are students that I’ve been with the full four years that I’ve been at Sheldon and getting to know their stories ... you realize how silent everybody is about this topic and how much we need to talk about it.”
Samantha Taylor teaches the Leadership 20/30 class, and said she has been amazed at the passion students have and what they have accomplished.
“It’s really their initiative, it’s their idea. I didn’t choose the idea,” she said. “They want to give back to the community. I’m simply there to guide them and help facilitate conversations.”
Taylor said students were shocked to find out that Saskatchewan has the highest rates of domestic violence in Canada at nearly double the national average.
“It definitely needs more awareness and more people talking about it and trying to change those high rates,” said Anderson.
Franks agreed. “It’s really important that we, as the future generation, start talking about it so we can change those statistics.”
Taylor has already seen this change start to happen in her classroom.
“Kids are more willing to talk about what’s happening in their own homes, and realizing that they’re not alone in suffering the effects of domestic violence,” she said.