by Bea Peterson
The boys in the HFCS Class of 2011 will soon be heading to college or the military or a job. Life is different outside the safety of family and school. This was one of the points Students Assistance Counselor Maryann Strauss, Mike Fonda and 2004 HFCS graduate Matt Harrington tried to make to the senior boys on Tuesday, May 31.
Last year physical education teacher Lisa Ferrannini and health teacher Colleen Corcoran put together an outstanding program for senior girls on some of the many hazards they may face in an independent world, free of parental or school influence. The topics included health, safety, dangers of drinking and risks of sexual assault. The information was laced with a large dose of common sense. Many personal and second hand experiences were shared. After that session, the senior boys wondered why there was not a session for them. This year there was.
Television Channel 13’s education reporter Elaine Houston covered the girls’ event last year, and she was back this year to hear what the boys had to say. The piece is expected to air on June 14. Houston said she doesn’t know of a school in the area that has a similar program. With the boys’ session she found it interesting that questions they were asked that should have been cut and dry were not to these kids. Strauss also found the presentation revealing. The boys were not the least intimidated by the TV camera and were willing to share their opinions openly. There was no doubt the session was enlightening all around.
Fonda began by asking for opinions on women wearing tight or revealing clothes. Do they deserve some of the blame if they are sexually harassed? When a woman says no to a sexual advance, could she mean yes? More questions dealt with rape, sexual assault of men and what advice to give someone who has been sexually assaulted.
The boys then broke up into groups to discuss scenarios that included coming across a guy slapping and pushing a girl and she’s screaming for him to stop… or someone has been drinking and smoking pot at a party and he decides to go to the store for more beer; friends say he has done this before and never had a problem; you are not sure this is a good idea…or at another party you see a friend trying to get an obviously drunk girl to have sex with him; you know her and she seems hesitant… or you are walking on campus late at night and you hear someone crying and in pain; it’s a guy you don’t really know and there’s blood on the back of his jeans; he says its a sick fraternity joke. To all of these scenarios the question was, “What are your options?”
Matt Harrington, a graduate of SUNY Oneonta and working at New Directions Consulting in North Bennington told his group that the way they respond to those questions, and to similar real life experiences, will
determine what kind of character they have and what kind of man they want to be. He told them that at HFCS they have been a close knit group. At college they will meet many different kinds of people and be exposed to attitudes they have never experienced in Hoosick Falls.
In the discussion regarding assisting the girl being slapped and pushed, Maryann Strauss related an incident involving people she knew. A fellow intervened and was stabbed by the guy. The guy ran off and the girl wanted to run off too. Had the fellow not begged her to assist him to a hospital, he might have died. Doing what one thinks is the right thing is not without risks.
Raising awareness of topics such as these may be just as important to a young man as good study habits, handling finances and health and safety.