At Wattawa Heights Public School in Sydney’s west, boys in years five and six are tackling a big issue.
“[Women] they’re humans, you treat them like how you would treat your brother or your friend,” 11-year-old Miled said.
Miled is one of 18 students taking part in the RESPECT project, which teaches young students about fostering respectful relationships with women and girls and encourages them to stand against family violence.
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“When the boys leave here and go off into high school next year or whenever they do, and they start to have relationships themselves, start to have girlfriends or partners, we want those relationships to be healthy ones,” RESPECT Coordinator, Craig Taunton said.
“That they treat their partner fairly or equally and they're not controlling or abusive. Ultimately that is what we'd like to see from these boys.”
RESPECT is an initiative of the Bankstown Youth Development Service and is federally funded through the Smith Family.
The coordinators of RESPECT say they've seen positive results, including better attitudes towards female teachers, students and family members. Over an eight week period students workshop ideas, write lyrics and film a music video.
RESPECT started at Bankstown Public School a few years ago and now reaches 14 schools in the local area.
High profile family violence campaigner Rosie Batty has recently lobbied for early intervention programs to be set up in all schools, nationwide.
“It has quite a big impact at a young age because some of our students they all come from different backgrounds and they may have seen violence out there in the community,” Bankstown Public School deputy principal, Nahla Dennaoui said.
“I think it’s just a strong message and embedding that at a young age, those respectful relationships, is really important and I see that being carried on as they get older.”
The students at Wattawa Heights Public School are only half way through their program.
"The growth in the students has been immense," Wattawa Heights class teacher, Gleen Toland said.
"We can talk to boys until we're blue in the face giving them language and stories, but to be part of this program and actually own what they're learning about is just so powerful."
Miled said the program had already had an impact on the way he interacts with people.
“Now it’s much better because I respect [women and girls] even more and help them and everything,” he said.
