ACC okays $18m for sex ed scheme to go NZ-wide
Programme part of harm-reduction drive Terracotta warriors to visit Te Papa
Asex education programme which initially ruffled some feathers because of its risque content will be rolled out in schools across the country. The ACC programme “Mates and Dates” was launched at eight New Zealand secondary schools in 2014. It followed the high-profile Roast Busters scandal, in which several West Auckland boys bragged on social media about having sex with intoxicated underage girls.
It also coincided with a parliamentary inquiry which said schools needed to start teaching students respectful attitudes to sex and sexuality instead of just the mechanics of sex and reproduction.
Since the original pilot scheme, Mates and Dates has been trialled at a total of 133 schools, with rolls of 36,000 students.
The programme consists of five hour-long sessions on healthy relationships, consent, gender and identity, what to do when things go wrong, and how to keep safe. In the programme’s pilot phase a few teachers complained that it made classes unruly and that some of the sexual material was confronting for more conservative students.
Later reviews found that a majority of students had responded positively to the programme.
ACC injury prevention manager Mike McCarthy said the corporation’s board had now green-lit $18.4 million schools trialled since the pilot of the sex education programme
for ACC to roll it out around the country
students to take part overall
in spending to expand it to 180,000 students around the country.
It is one of several preventative measures ACC is backing in a bid to reduce mental and physical injuries caused by sexual violence.
The number of sensitive claims — which relate to injuries from rape, sexual assault and child abuse — has risen by 88 per cent in the past five years because of more generous state support for victims and movements like #MeToo. Treatment costs alone passed $50m last year, up from $12m in 2013.
ACC data shows sexual violence rates are highest among people in their late teens and early 20s. The data is based on when people make a claim, and the average delay between an assault and a claim in New Zealand is 16 years.
“It really indicates that we’ve got some pretty significant child abuse problems . . . that we haven’t looked at in that sort of holistic, cultural way in New Zealand,” McCarthy said.
HWatch video at nzherald.co.nz New Zealanders will have the chance to get up close with the ancient terracotta warriors this summer.
The 2300-year-old treasures are coming to Te Papa as part of the Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality exhibition.
The exhibition comes with a $2.6 million price tag but the exhibition’s curator Rebecca Rice thinks it will be a once in a generation opportunity.
“The warriors visited Wellington in the 1980s but the real things have not been back since, so it’s a wonderful opportunity for New Zealanders to view these imperial icons.”
As only a certain number of warriors are able to travel at once, the exhibition will feature eight of the soldiers standing at
180cm high and two full-sized horses.
The famous army guarded the underground tomb of China’s First Emperor
Qin Shihuang for more than 2000
iThe exhibition will run from December 15 to April 22. years. They were discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well and are often regarded as an eighth wonder of the world.
The exhibition will also house half-size replica bronze chariots and treasures from in and around China’s ancient capital Xi’an that date back to 1046BC-220AD. Rice said it will be a rich exhibition that will appeal to many from the archaeological side, the historical side and because of the beauty of the objects.
Te Papa chief executive Geraint Martin said it will give an opportunity for New Zealanders to see the treasures that many would not otherwise get to see. He expected 100,000 people to visit the exhibition and generate an estimated $33m economic benefit to Wellington.
The exhibition is funded by $500,000 from the Government’s Major Events Development Fund and support from Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency.