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Kelsi Prince, program associate for violence and abuse prevention with the Canadian Red Cross, teaches students about anti-bullying and conflict resolution techniques during a Beyond the Hurt symposium held at Prince Albert's Red Wing School on Feb. 28. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff) : Brady Bateman
Beating bullying

Beating bullying, teaching conflict resolution

Feb 28, 2019 | 5:00 PM

Prince Albert’s Red Wing School saw more than 50 students, from various schools throughout the city, attend a Healthy Youth Relationship and Beyond the Hurt Symposium on Thursday.

The event, which was held and led by the Canadian Red Cross with help from former Saskatchewan Roughriders player Spencer Moore, aimed to teach youth ways to better deal with conflict and address the issue of bullying.

The workshop saw several student leaders from a variety of schools being picked as “champions” of the program, who will then go on to teach and inspire others in their community.

“I think what we’re trying to do is prevention, instead of intervention,” said Moore.

“We’re trying to teach kids tools and lessons of things that might not be seeing very often. We’re trying to give them the tools to better themselves, better their peers, and have healthier relationships.”

Moore noted he is new to the Beyond the Hurt program, having been originally involved with the Imagine No Bullying program.

“I recently got traded but I still wanted to give back to the community of Saskatchewan that has supported me for so long,” said Moore.

“I’m definitely still learning, but the kids are learning too and that’s what’s important.”

Youth involved in the two-day-program were divided into several groups, and lead through a series of instructive lessons, each teaching valuable skills to building healthy relationships and conflict resolutions.

Youths involved in the program expressed their gratitude to be given these skills, and said they were walking away with important knowledge.

Ethan Bil, Grade 7 student at John Diefenbaker School in Prince Albert, attended the workshop and told paNOW he was walking away with valuable information.

“We’re learning about how to build better relationships, and how to solve problems easier and preventing bullying from cyber to physical,” said Bil.

“I really hope that I’m going to be able to help my friends grow and be better people.”

brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy

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