Boxing for school : Taking a Stand Against Violence
On May 31, 2024, 40 students from Ville-Émard’s Options High School, pedagogical staff, and their CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal social worker participated in Flip Violence Out, an event that takes a stand against violence in the community.
The event is part of Boxing for School—a program supported by Fondation Santé Urbaine—which uses sports as a form of psychosocial intervention, promoting overall health and academic perseverance with youth from underserved communities.
Flipping out violence from their neighbourhood
Throughout the month of May, the students flipped 550 lb heavy-duty tires, each tire symbolizing the violence they wish to eradicate from their daily life.
On Friday, May 31, they completed the last 1,000 tire flips from the 5,000-tire-flip goal they set, representing the 7.5-km distance from Jolicoeur metro station (the nearest station to their school) and Ville-Émard’s borders.
The goal was to metaphorically flip violence out of their community.
Every end of the school year, the program organizes a sports event at the school around a specific social issue or related to a situation that occurred at school.
The goal is to use sports as a tool for social intervention.
This year, following a violent dispute between two students, the school’s staff and CIUSSS social worker Julien Bérubé suggested students rally together to take a stand against violence.
For eight weeks, students trained in the school’s gym to get ready to tackle this incredible challenge.
The idea is to teach them to communicate differently, without violence, and to respect one another. And we wanted to be at their level. The teachers, the principal, and coach are all present and participate.
We want to show them we’re there to help them with the challenge and that we’re proud of them.
Boxing for School: supporting youth from low-resource communities all year long
Launched over 10 years ago, the Boxing for School program has important impacts on young people’s physical, mental, and social health.
Through small victories and by showing youth what they can accomplish, the program directly contributes to building confidence, perseverance, and relationships with peers and adults, all while facilitating access to specialized psychosocial resources if needed. Not to mention the obvious physical benefits of physical activity and the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits.
The foundation has been a proud supporter of this program for several years, thanks in particular to a large donation from the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.
This innovative program fits perfectly with our mission to humanize health care, from birth to end-of-life. The mix of prevention, intervention, and the program’s people-centred approach—as opposed to a problem-centred one—are all values we believe in.
If students thought the challenge insurmountable, the school staff and the precious support of their social worker helped them overcome any doubt.
Their mental fortitude knows no limits, as their slogan so clearly states: “All go, no quit.”