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The Ontario government will spend nearly $875,000 to train high school coaches to teach young male athletes about youth dating- and gender-based violence, consent and healthy relationships, and building cultures free from violence.
Interval House of Hamilton will certify up to 23 violence against women agencies across the province in the Coaching Boys into Men program. Its website says it's a "violence prevention program that trains and motivates high school coaches to teach their young male athletes healthy relationship skills, mental health practices, and that violence never equals strength, through 12 weekly discussions."
The agencies will work with local school boards to train up to 400 coaches/teachers to engage with students aged 12 and up through sports. on healthy relationships, mental health practices, and gender-based violence. "The program will benefit students in approximately 200 high schools in Ontario," says a government news release.
“It is critical that boys and young men in this province learn how to build healthy relationships, prevent violence, and respect girls and women in schools and across our society,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. "These real-life skills will support students well beyond the classroom.”
Coaching Boys into Men is a 12-week, evidence-based violence-prevention program that trains high school coaches to engage with male athletes about healthy relationship skills and that violence is not a sign of strength.
The program leverages sports to help:
- Improve male students’ and coaches’ knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence, its impacts, and how we can safely intervene when we witness or experience it
- Translate the sports environment and its numerous benefits into an effective site for talking about these issues
- Bolster and nurture athletes’ and coaches’ leadership skills to stand up for respect and positively impact their school cultures
- Reduce incidences of bullying, hazing, harassment, violence, and abuse among male student-athletes and within their outside relationships
- Increase positive bystander behaviours and likelihood of reaching out for support among youth
"This allocation of nearly $875,000 toward the Coaching Boys into Men program represents a monumental stride in governmental backing for expansive, school-based prevention endeavours,” said Jess Dixon, MPP Kitchener South—Hespeler. “We will never succeed in combating gender-based violence if we fail to give young men and boys the tools they need to foster healthy relationships, challenge harmful behaviours, and ultimately become allies of women."
Dating violence starts early and is more prevalent among young women. Dating violence can begin as early as grade school, with 29 per cent of young girls and women in Grades 7, 9, and 11 reporting experiencing dating violence, compared to 13 per cent of young boys and men, says the release.
According to the 2023 SafeSport survey conducted by the Coaches Association of Ontario, one in five coaches have heard offensive, sexist, racist, homophobic language in their organization or at competition within the past six months. While most coaches (85 per cent) say they are comfortable intervening when they hear offensive comments, 45 per cent indicate they are only somewhat comfortable speaking out or interrupting.
A national study looking at 3,000 Canadian youth found that in the past year, 12 per cent were physically hurt on purpose by someone they were dating, 18 per cent had a person they were dating use social media to hurt, embarrass, or monitor them, and 28 per cent reported a dating partner who tried to control them or emotionally hurt them.
