The male learners from Sacred Heart College in Observatory stood in solidarity with female learners who had stayed away from school in support of the #WithoutUs movement.
Male learners attended school on Wednesday 11 September while female learners stayed away.
During the day learners held a silent protest outside the school in the morning and the afternoon.
Throughout the day, the boys engaged in a series of workshops around gender-based violence and how to become better young men, by learning about their actions, words, and mannerisms.
The day ended with the boys making pledges about actions they could change and how they could make a difference within the school and society as a whole.
Sacred Heart College is a Catholic, Marist co-educational school offering values-based, innovative education from Playgroup to matric.
The high-school president, Tariro Banganayi indicated it was a very good first attempt although it wasn’t perfect.
He reckoned the idea behind starting conversations with the school about the way boys talk to girls and the manner they treat them is important.
“As much as we say we must challenge the harmful ways that the boys engage with the opposite sex, I don’t think we’ve ever done it in as much depth as we did on that day,” he said.
Banganayi said it was sad that girls had to be absent when all of that happened but felt like next time it’s also important to have the girls because it’s such a male-dominated space, with male perspectives on everything. “It’s very easy for boys to make excuses for themselves and their friends because of the support of their friends. I think it’s very important that next time we have this dialogue, which should be soon, we involve the girls and give them an active role in expressing how they feel and including their voices in that conversation.”
Zanzi Matsebula, also a high-school president, said the silent protest raised awareness in the school because a lot of people didn’t know, maybe they knew but didn’t understand what was happening with gender-based violence. “The day without the girls at school made some people realise that they need to change their actions; they need to change themselves and they need to hold each other accountable.
“Hopefully, that’s the effect that it #WithoutUs has,” said deputy president Thato Kekana.
Details: Sacred Heart College 011 487 9000.
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https://northeasterntribune.co.za/234167/sacred-heart-college-girls-soccer-team-makes-history/
