Some social work students at STU have turned lessons in the classroom into action.
Last Thursday, the second-year students held the “Making happy childhood memories” march to raise awareness about family violence and the importance of letting kids be kids.
About 45 turned out to walk from the Beaverbrook Art Gallery to city hall, said Ellen Comer, a spokeswoman for the students.
Each student in the 15-month program is required to take on a social action placement in their second year.
“They asked that we incorporate something into the community that raises awareness about the issue of family violence,” Comer said.
Rather than set up a booth somewhere on campus, the students felt more people from a range of backgrounds would take notice if they held a march downtown.
“When we designed the march, we decided not to take too hard of a stance about stopping violence. Instead we wanted to promote the [idea] that children should have the right to build happy memories.”
Most people have fond memories of playing or spending time with family as a child, but children who grow up in households with abuse “don’t have the opportunity to build some of those memories,” Comer said.
The march coincides with Family Violence Awareness Month and Comer said the problem of family violence is “pretty big” in New Brunswick.
“In New Brunswick alone, between 2001 and 2002, over 2,000 women and children sought shelter because of violence at home,” Comer said, adding that three in five children will witness family violence in their lifetime.
“It often goes unheard because it’s behind closed doors.”
The march started Family Violence Awareness Month off with a bang and got people talking about it, Comer said.
“People are starting to talk about what’s going on besides what we’ve done, which is the goal, to mobilize as many people as possible and get them to care.
“It really takes everybody to make sure these children safe.”
