July 25, 2019

In the 2018-2019 school year, CAASE’s prevention education workshops served 4,925 youth. That’s more than ever before and we still observed that 100% of students demonstrated improvement across all evaluated areas. One particularly impressive area of growth was in understanding the cause of commercial sexual exploitation. Before starting the program, students often saw prostitution as an empowered choice. However, by the end of the program, we saw a significant 371% increase in understanding that demand causes prostitution.

View a summary of the data we collected and how it will inform our work this academic year.

Another highlight from the past school year was an expansion to our curriculum. We added a fifth session specifically centered on consent so we could dive deeper into the topic. The workshop was so successful and popular that a waitlist was implemented due to the volume of requests from schools. Not only were school administrators interested in the consent session, but students specifically noted its importance in their surveys. One student wrote, “The information that stood out most to me was the consent talk because we need to know and be aware of what we give consent to.” Students demonstrated an improved understanding of consent and sexual assault on their post-workshop surveys and also frequently stated they wanted to learn even more about it. In part, current events helped spark this curiosity.

Just like adults, teens are exposed to the news cycle. However, they may not have the same tools or knowledge to sift through social media narratives and conflicting information. News articles—depending on the rhetoric and framing—can obscure the reality of exploitation and sexual assault, complicating student perception of sexual harm. However, the news cycle also provides our prevention team with relevant examples that provide context and foster an engaging dialogue between our staff and participating youth. In fact, teens are often the ones to bring these stories into class discussions.

In the 2017-2018 school year, the #MeToo movement raised a lot of questions for students and gave them specific insight into understanding sexual harm. Likewise, this past year we found that media coverage about R. Kelly and Michael Jackson led to questions and debates in our sessions. As we prepare for workshops this fall, we will continue to keep a focus on discussion and empower students to bring what’s happening in the world around them into our programs through open dialogue. 

In reflecting on the prior school year, we also learned workshop environments impact student growth. Analyzing the pre- and post-workshop surveys revealed that male students participating in our Empowering Youth series, a co-ed space, demonstrated the most consistent growth and exhibited more growth than male students participating in the Empowering Young Men series, a male-only space. Male students in the latter workshop were more inconsistent in their post-workshop survey answers and on average answered more questions with the response “unsure.” Our finding that male students learn more about sexual harm in co-ed spaces is consistent with national findings which suggest diverse environments produce a variety of perspectives that foster understanding. On the other hand, gender-segregated spaces create echo chambers that often reinforce stereotypes. We’ll use this valuable finding to encourage co-ed workshops in schools if they have not already requested it. 

We are thankful that the data we collect each year helps us improve our programs and better educate young students so that they can become allies in ending sexual harm. Now, we’re ready to put this knowledge to good use as classes resume this fall! 

To learn more about CAASE’s prevention programs, visit our website. You can also read about and request workshops here.