Bloom Trail Students Work to Raise Sexual Assault Awareness

The students in this story's names have been left out intentionally, to protect their privacy regarding their experiences.

When two students approached Student Assistance Coordinator Matthew Kunkel with an idea to honor national Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), he jumped on the opportunity to help them roll out their plan.

“I was so impressed with these two girls, their ideas, their follow-through, maturity, and their ability to talk so calmly and openly with kids all day long,” Kunkel said.

The students focused on the last week of April which coincided with the school prom. It was important to the girls to open this dialogue in the days leading up to the dance. This was a cause the students feel passionate about.

“The way I came up with this idea is because of my own experience." a student shared. "I was actually raped in a school environment. I really wanted to be able to educate students on this topic. To let them know it happens around them, even in their own schools. I wanted to be an advocate for the girls and boys who are afraid to speak out for something that is NOT their fault. I feel like it's important for our schools and other schools because it's a huge topic no one is really taught about. They learn the basics, such as rape but never the other parts to it, such as RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest). All of those things tie together and kids never get the full detail about it.”

Throughout the week, they made daily public service announcements educating students about what all constitutes sexual assault and ways to support survivors. Often survivors feel isolated and at fault for what happened to them.

The students used the hashtags #StartByBelieving and #EmbraceYourVoice to encourage others to support survivors or to speak up and ask for help. They set up a display in the cafeteria and spent a day talking to their classmates about this topic and asking students and staff to sign posters pledging to support survivors. Everyone who spoke to them received teal wristbands (teal is the color used to show support for assault survivors) and people were asked to wear teal on Thursday. They also set up a “Speak Freely” box where students could anonymously drop questions and comments on the topic of sexual assault.

"I took part in this because I think the youth is very important, and we can build a better community if we pay attention to the real problems the world is afraid to acknowledge," another student shared. "This is very important in our school because high school is a huge transition and with our hormones, everyone should be aware of right from wrong. Practicing consent is very important when it comes to our young people… I am glad we had an opportunity to do this. This was a very heavy topic for us. I’ve had personal experiences, but I am glad we were strong enough to help others. It felt good to smile and make good conversation. The best part was watching others put notes in the 'speak freely' box. That helped me a lot to know that I wasn’t alone. This was overall beautiful. I wish I could talk all day about this wonderful experience!”

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault call or chat with the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online.rainn.org.