SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : AWARE Expands Its Program in Schools

Before graduating this June, all 2,000 high school seniors in the Capistrano Unified School District will have a chance to participate in an intensive, half-day sexual assault awareness and prevention workshop.

School trustees, who unanimously approved the program last week, say the scale of the program, which will be held at each of the district’s three high schools starting June 3, is unprecedented, and greatly needed.

“It’s probably one of the most valuable things we can give our girls before they leave the school district,” school board member Annette B. Gude said. “I wish we had done it a long, long time ago.”

The program is being sponsored by the Assn. of Women Against Rape Encounters, a nonprofit organization that includes members of the school board, school psychologists, parents and representatives of local law enforcement agencies and community service groups.

Since founding AWARE little more than a year ago, Troyce Thome has held various seminars throughout the area for hundreds of women to raise awareness about sexual assault and prevention.

But Thome said nothing her AWARE group has done up to now compares with the magnitude of the high school program.

“The object of this program is to empower our children through education,” Thome said. “So often we give them the illusion it’s a rosy picture out there. Unfortunately, it’s not necessarily true.”

Each of the school workshops will include four 50-minute, co-ed sessions on the issues of date rape and sexually transmitted diseases, sexual assault and harassment, self-defense techniques and cycles of violence and sexual abuse.

Workshop speakers include Susan Leavy of AWARE, Christine Leon with the UCI Women’s Resource Center, Sandy Condello with Human Options, and Donna Friess, whose recent book on sexual abuse, “Cry, the Darkness,” is being made into a CBS movie of the week starring Jaclyn Smith.

During the workshop, students will be given a list of referrals if they need help. School psychologists and counselors will also be available to answer any questions from students that come up after the workshops.

Students will attend the workshops instead of their regular morning classes. Parental permission will be needed for students to attend the workshops.

A preview of the program will also be held for parents on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Capistrano Valley High School small gym.

So far, Thome said she has received only positive reaction from parents about the program. It was a PTA group that actually sparked the idea for the program, she added.

“By shedding light on these issues, we can in fact realize some of the problems our society faces and seek some solutions,” Thome said. “The only way we can alleviate these problems is by recognizing them.”