In transforming the youth culture of emotional survival and fear into a culture of empowerment and safety, we hold the hope for a better world

What is Safeteen?

Safeteen is a skill-based violence prevention program. It offers gender-specific strategies for managing fear and anger, and gives participants a way of standing up for themselves without violence. Grounded in theory on socialization and gender, these workshops address the roots of violence and expose power dynamics as the underlying factor in harassment, bullying and assault.

Why Safeteen?

Safeteen meets many of BC's New Curriculum Physical & Health Education learning standards - More Info.
Safeteen gets 4.5 Stars on the UBC Best Practices Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resource List - More Info.
UBC conducted a research study on the efficacy of the Safeteen programs - More Info.
For over 30 years Safeteen has received highest marks from students, parents and teachers - More Info.
Safeteen stays up to date on current topic and trends that children and youth are facing today - More Info.

Why gender-specific workshops?

Safeteen fully respects each individual’s right to self-identify wherever they choose on the gender spectrum. In light of the fact that we currently live in a gender-based society, we continue to offer gender-specific programs. When we do gender-specific work it is because those who identify in the same gender group tend to be more open and honest about the issues we cover; and usually share similar experiences - particularly around gender stereotypes and violence. We have found gender-specific work to be most effective in creating a safe environment for participants to open up and speak up on the gender-issues we cover. That being said, all our facilitators actively strive to be gender inclusive in language and by example.

We welcome participants to attend the workshop they feel would most empower them and be most beneficial for their development and awareness of violence prevention and assertiveness skills training. Most often, individuals will experience violence in their world depending on how they present, regardless of how they identify. We find that participants usually feel most comfortable and empowered joining the gender group with which they have experienced the most gender-socialization. The skills and concepts we offer in our programs are transferrable throughout the gender spectrum.

Please share this information with any individuals who are inquiring about which workshop to attend. Let them know that we are focusing on violence prevention and gender socialization; not gender identification issues. For further inquiries, please contact the office.

Does Safeteen offer gender-blended workshops?

Yes, Safeteen offers Show and Tell - a gender-blended workshop as a follow up for those who have participated in both Level I and 2 gender-specific programs.

Show and Tell is a powerful opportunity to bring participants together to share their individual experiences, ask and answer questions and enter into an openhearted dialogue. For more information, please contact the office.