Don't Stand For It!

Save students against violence

Students Against Violence Everywhere got started in March 2009 by Johny O’Donnell, Amani Waenga and Manaaki Walker of Nelson College, they started the group because like many young people they didn’t know how to help someone in an abusive situation and they wanted to promote the “It’s Not Ok” message.
Amazingly the idea was to run one campaign on family violence and leave it there, but over the past few months SAVE has grown to extreme lengths and is now spread right across New Zealand. The group is now the success story of youth violence prevention in New Zealand and has gained national attention from politicians, government departments, the well known “It’s Not Ok” campaign and heaps more. In aiming to raise awareness of the effects of violence the group has now built momentum which has triggered the movement of young people across our region making a stand- there are nearly 40 members in Nelson/Tasman and that membership base stretches right across our region.
Now there are groups getting started all our around our awesome country and the movement is growing by the day. SAVE has huge plans for the rest of 2009 and 2010 with one major event- Youth Violence Awareness Day which is being held on Friday 22nd January 2010 and will feature a MASSIVE concert that is proudly sponsored by Tasman Youth Council. If you are a motivated young person wanting to make a difference in society, you can drop SAVE a line on our website www.savemovement.org

Or ask your school reps:
Nelson College: Amani Waenga
Nelson College for Girls: Emma Matthews
Nayland College: Elle Marie Pittman
Waimea College: Sarah Donald
Motueka High School: Wilbur Townsend
General Community: Scott Miller
Questions SAVE get a lot!

How do I help someone in an abusive situation?
This person will definitely need your support so don’t forget to just be there for them, maybe drop a hint by talking about SAVE and saying that there is a website www.savemovement.org that has heaps of help numbers on there. If you don’t feel comfortable talking about it with them, tell someone- a teacher, social worker, school counsellor- anyone who you can trust.

Why did SAVE support the anti-smacking law?
SAVE doesn’t think that hitting children is right, and wanted to get youth opinions into the arena because most of the time it’s politicians debating about our issues without even asking us.

What opportunities does SAVE offer for me?
The commitment can be as big or as little as you like, but the opportunity is whatever you make it, if you want to make a big difference in our group you can come along to our monthly meetings or join our campaign or financial team. But isn’t this sunny old Nelson, where there is no violence anyway? Wrong! Nelson/Tasman is no better than the rest of New Zealand, the only good thing about Nelson’s violence is we are more active in preventing it than some other places.

What do I do if I’m violent and want to change?
Just believe in yourself, it will be one of the hardest choices you could make but also the best choice you will ever make.

Any other questions, feel free to use the “Voice” page on our website and we will get back to you ASAP!