Students told of violence

Research has shown that violence often starts in the home, according to University of Goroka (UOG) academic Dr Jane Awi.
Dr Awi, who is the executive director of the Somare Research Institute and director for Centre for Melanesian Studies at UOG, made this known to students of Kerevat National High and George Brown Secondary schools in East New Britain recently.
Dr Awi and her research team from UOG were in East New Britain to collect data on the effects of the domestic violence on the academic performance of students.
She said students were asked on how they dealt with or responded to violence at home, kept themselves safe; to find out if domestic violence affected their academic performance; and, on how members of a community reacted to address domestic violence.
Dr Awi said at the end of the workshop, the students were able to understand that the problem was violence and not the person that was inflicting the violence.
She said the research methods used in this workshop were different from the usual approach on research work, as they used process drama to get students to be creative and in the process, create a safe space for them to express themselves, confidently about how domestic violence affected them and they could overcome the challenge it posed.
The activities were then followed by counselling.
It was discovered from the schools visited so far in the two regions that there was a need for counsellors in schools to deal directly with students facing such issues to help them talk about their experiences and provide ways for them to overcome them.
Dr Awi said though they opted to cover more schools, they were only able to visit two schools.