TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 5, 2012) - December 6, 2012 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Montreal Massacre and Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) members will be participating in events across Ontario to honour the lives of the fourteen women attending École Polytechnique de Montréal who were killed, simply because they were women. However, December 6 is more than a day to honour the lives of the murdered women it is also a day to be active in initiatives aimed at preventing violence against women.
"Our members have been actively involved for many years educating our students and the public about gender-based violence and harassment," said OSSTF/FEESO President, Ken Coran. "This year we partnered with the White Ribbon Campaign to provide an online resource for secondary school educators, youth and youth workers, called It Starts With You, It Stays With Him. Our members will continue to help change attitudes about gender-based violence by participating in special events and addressing sexual harassment in classrooms, hallways and workplaces."
Todd Minerson, Executive Director of the White Ribbon Campaign added, "We are proud to partner with OSSTF/FEESO on presenting this tool to engage young men and boys in becoming allies and positive role models around issues of gender equity and helping end violence against women. This initiative takes a further step in supporting educators to introduce and build on these much-needed conversations with students in general and young men and boys in particular."
OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.