Oak Park and River Forest High School held its first Junior Review on sexual assault awareness Feb. 16 through 23.
The program, called “Got Consent?” was organized by OPRF gym teacher Linda Carlson. The purpose was “encouraging students to start intervening and understanding what’s right and wrong,” she said. “You’re never too young for it.”
For five days during gym periods, juniors were part of conversations regarding consent and coercion. On the fourth day, an in-school field trip was held in the auditorium during first through third periods, led by national speakers Ted Bunch and Salamishah Tillet.
The field trip consisted of a discussion about ending violence against women. For the first activity, students were split into groups for an hour. Female-identifying students went to the Little Theater, where Tillet shared her healing journey after sexual assault and how she uses her experience to connect to youth.
Tillet is the Henry Rutgers professor of African American Studies and Creative Writing at Rutgers University in New York. With her sister Scheherazade Tillet, she co-founded a Chicago-based nonprofit arts organization called A Long Walk Home that empowers young people to end violence against girls and women.
In 2022, Shalamishah Tillet was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for criticism for her writing on race in arts and culture in The New York Times.
Tillet’s presentation made an impression on OPRF students. Junior Genesis Galloway said, “Her effort to talk to students about her healing journey and the ways she reclaimed her strength was beautiful and empowering.”
While female-identifying students were in the Little Theater, male-identifying students were in the auditorium with Ted Bunch, an author, educator and activist who co-founded the organization A Call to All Men. The organization focuses on male socialization, promoting healthy masculinity, ending violence against all genders and gender and racial equality.
He spoke to male-identifying students about how to escape the male “box” society often puts them in and how to be comfortable in their manhood.
“Growing up I didn’t have conversations regarding topics like that with my father, so I understand how important it is to have reviews like this at our school because it offers safe places for kids to talk about things they might not necessarily talk about,” said Max Sakellaris, a gym teacher at OPRF.
After the breakout sessions, all students went to the auditorium to have a group discussion about sexual violence and participate in a question and answer session with Tillet and Bunch. During the discussion, students asked varying questions and were engaged in what each speaker had to say.
“I think the Junior Review was a very well planned event,” said Riley Bazillion. “It was amazing to hear from the speakers about sexual assault, especially acknowledging assault against Black women. This assembly should be something they continue to do for future junior classes.”
School programs about health and sexual safety are different depending on the grade a student is in, according to Carlson.
Freshmen are learning about empowerment of their bodies, healthy dating relationships and sexual harassment. Sophomores participate in a self-defense unit learning how to physically protect themselves, and they learn about how to take care of themselves mentally through wellness classes. Seniors work with sexual assault survivor Brenda Tracy and participate in a workshop regarding sexual assault called Set The Expectation.
OPRF has worked with Tracy since 2020. After Last year’s Set the Expectation, students held a walkout and rally against sexual assault. This year, Carlson and the Physical Education Department held the “Set the Expectation” event for seniors earlier in the year and added the “Got Consent?” review for juniors.
“We want to make the school a safe space for everyone,” said Sakellaris. “We do that by talking about healthy relationships, talking about consent, assault, and what it means to be a bystander.”
