Students at Westmount High sat for a good cause on Friday.
The students spent 10 minutes taking part in a silent sit-in in an effort to combat violence against women and girls.
Student Savannah Carpenter, who helped organize the sit-in, said that while some classmates weren’t taking the issue seriously, events such as this help combat lethargy and ignorance.
“I think we’re getting a better message about it, the more activities we do, the more things we do for it, they tend to be more accepting,” she said. “I think it’s very important we talk about it in school.”
Carpenter said she was heartened at the recent surge in media coverage of efforts against violence and harassment of women.
“It makes me upset because I hate seeing this happening to everyone,” she said. “It’s not just women, it’s both genders that can have violence against them, but this targeted towards women. It’s impacted my life because I know people who have been who have had violence against them.”
“I think this event is important because there are a lot of people in general who are victims of any sort of violence,” said a male student who took part in the event. “They don’t really have the confidence or resources to stand up for themselves. We’re saying all the students of Westmount High are allies, we’re here to support any victim for anything.”
Last year, students at the school collected personal items for women staying in shelters. Principal Michael Christofaro praised the students for engaging in discussion on a serious, difficult issue.
“I think it’s important because students are beginning to look at the world in a very different way. They’re being exposed to many, many different things through the media, through social media. It’s important for them to get a good sense of what’s going on and what they can do as the next generation to improve the world.”
