By Abbigale Kernya for The 44 North
Managing Editor
"How can you address your own biases? What are the conversations you might be having at home that might be influencing your child? Or what are you ignoring that your child might be saying or doing and they think it's okay?”
In the chaos of school hallways and online chat rooms, words are increasingly weaponized in the classroom. More and more frequently, young students use harmful and hateful language; words echoed online find their way into schools, causing harm far deeper than many of their users understand. In an effort to transform the conversation around harmful language into an opportunity for intervention and education, Harmony Movement’s Words Matter Campaign works closely with schools and communities to initiate dialogue on the power of words.
Harmony Movement’s Program Managers Justine Hicks and Taraneh Vejdani work closely on this initiative, designed to intervene and educate classrooms about the importance of language—born out of the urgent need to address harm in our schools. With a restorative justice approach, Hicks and Vejdani sat down with The 44 North to discuss what it means to take the pledge in community building, reeducation, commitment to inclusive spaces, and understanding why words matter.
Vajdani began crafting the campaign last year, where she worked closely with the Inclusive School Action Network, which kick-started the idea for Words Matter. The goal was to create more inclusive spaces in our schools to address and combat the rising concerns of harmful language used by students at an alarming rate.
“That started the brainstorming and discussion within that group to figure out what is happening on the ground, but also what is the solution?” she said.
The result was a restorative justice approach to understanding why schools are becoming a breeding ground for harmful language, noting that in some cases, students are completely unaware that the language they’re repeating is hurtful and discriminatory. Workshops were created to collaborate with the school and parents to discuss the impact and address the language being used, alongside determining next steps in education and intervention: engage everyone in the conversation around safe spaces in our schools and community.
“The reality is we've seen a significant increase in the use of harmful language, and specifically, slurs have become much more common. Unfortunately, we're seeing it across different age groups, even as young as grade two, where students are using it. We are trying to understand and theorize, really, where it's coming from, or how the spike happened,” Vejdani said on the importance of the Words Matter Campaign.
Harmony Movement provides resources to schools committed to the goals of building the Words Matter campaign, such as workshops, school-specific lesson plans, modules, and webinars—tools to guide students, educators, and parents through appropriate conversations and approaches to combatting harmful language. In addition, Vejdani stressed her appreciation for the amazing community partners working closely with Harmony Movement that helped create content for different identities—targeting complacency around harmful rhetoric in classrooms.
"With a focus on the unique approach the campaign uses to combat harmful rhetoric, Vejdani said that the reason behind their approach was the simple reality that traditional punishments, suspensions, and detentions aren’t working."
Crucial, Vejdani said, was the communication between families and educators through social media or letters, which keeps conversations about next-steps and additional concerns constantly available.
“We've hosted check-in sessions: I would meet up with schools to help them think through what the campaign could look like for their specific schools. We have evaluation tools that they can access, too, for us to see how the campaign is going, but also for them to see where they're at and how the campaign has impacted them,” she said.
Hicks added that with the rise of social media and unrestricted access to the internet, young children are being introduced to language without knowing the history or weight behind the words they then repeat in the classroom.
“Now we're [...] focusing on specifically addressing that. So we'll be meeting with some students—we've already had some consultations with some of our partners—and we want to make sure we're including all voices—bringing all voices to the table—to make sure that we are doing this with students in mind. For students by students,” she said.
More specifically, Hicks mentioned the importance of holding space for marginalized students who are most affected by inappropriate language in schools, noting that their experiences are often centred out in classrooms. This emphasizes additional support needs for these students and their families.
“How can we be supportive of Black families who might be navigating these issues with their children, experiencing daily racism in school? And resources for non-Black families? What can you do when you hear your child using these slurs? How can you address your own biases? What are the conversations you might be having at home that might be influencing your child? Or what are you ignoring that your child might be saying or doing and they think it's okay?” Hicks said on the next phase of the campaign.
'Words Matter' aims to restore the relationship between marginalized students and their educators by creating a classroom environment where educators take steps to intervene when harmful language is used, rebuilding the trust and support needed for student safety and growth.
Intervention and education are among the Words Matter campaign’s top goals. While there is no overnight solution, Vejdani has received positive feedback and seen real change implemented by schools that pledged to create these vital spaces for students and educators. From an increase in intervention when harmful language is used, to student ownership in creating different initiatives like their own Words Matter school club, to seeing students feel empowered to stand up and change the culture of normalized harmful words not only in the classroom, but in their community as well.
Vejdani added that the third Wednesday in May was Words Matter Day—schools hosted art contests, assemblies, dances, and more to celebrate safe language and normalize inclusivity, supportive spaces, and speaking up when you hear something concerning at school.
With a focus on the unique approach the campaign uses to combat harmful rhetoric, Vejdani said that the reason behind their approach was the simple reality that traditional punishments, suspensions, and detentions aren’t working.
“It doesn't change the culture; it doesn't change the individual. So when we went about creating our intervention strategies or content, we really wanted to take a restorative justice approach and think about what needs to happen for the students who are using the language and the students who are harmed by that language, both to feel prepared or safe by the end of that process. So we say the key is always to intervene,” she said.
“Say something, even if you don't have the opportunity to do that education piece right away. The first thing is that you need to interrupt what is happening.”
Our words always matter, and Harmony Movement’s campaign reminds us never to take that lightly.
Further Reading:
More about Harmony Movement at harmony.ca
Join the 'Words Matter' Campaign at: harmony.ca/words-matter/
Join the Inclusive School Action Network at: https://harmony.ca/isan/
Free educator resources here.
Thank you to our incredible community partners who made the Words Matter campaign possible.
