Bringing back school’s mana
Disappointed by the actions of a small number of their former peers, a group of Wellington College students have made it their mission to raise awareness about sexual abuse.
As part of the annual Young Enterprise Scheme, year 13 students Ollie Michie, 18, Connor Larsen-Cross, 18, Rupesh Kanji, 17 and Reilly Hanifan-Oaks, 18, have teamed up with local groups working to prevent abuse.
‘‘Given the events last year where we had a couple of boys make some really inappropriate comments on Facebook, which did not reflect our school’s views, we wanted to do something to show what Wellington College boys are all about,’’ Ollie said.
Last year, two students at the school were stood down and stripped of leadership positions after posting comments about rape on social media.
That prompted the group to create popsockets – small plastic grips that ‘‘pop’’ onto the back of a cellphone – emblazoned with a sexual abuse prevention message.
They partnered with the Sexual Abuse Prevention Network (SAPN) and its existing ‘‘Don’t Guess The Yes’’ campaign being run in collaboration with Wellington City Council, police, Massey Wellington and Victoria University Wellington Student Associations (VUWSA).
SAPN general manager Fiona McNamara was pleased to see young people taking steps to educate their peers.
‘‘So often campaigns of the past have been about keeping yourself safe so it’s good to see ones that say ‘think about your own behaviour’.’’
McNamara and her team run about 130 programmes in high schools across the Wellington region, promoting consent and healthy sexuality.
As leaders in the school, the boys wanted to make use of their platform. ‘‘We want to set an example for future students.’’
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester has been mentoring the group, and said he was more than happy they had taken the lead.
Half the funds raised will go to SAPN, with the 50/50 split allowing them to also do well within the Young Enterprise Scheme.