Dear Parents,
What does your child need to know before they go to college?
Yes, we should talk about decorating their dorm room, their eating/sleeping habits, and financial independence, but the most important thing is they need to know is how to stay safe. Students need to know the facts: 1.) women ages 18-24 are at an elevated risk of sexual violence and 2.) sexual violence is pervasive on college campuses.
They are old enough now to understand the realities of what happened to Sarah Everard and the disheartening news that the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the woman voluntarily got drunk beforehand and therefore wasn’t “mentally incapacitated.”
Enough! What can we do? We must equip and arm our children with knowledge before they leave for college. We have joined forces with the Rowan Center and the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence (formerly CONNSACS) to host two upcoming “Know Before You Go” sessions (parents and daughters participate separately). We hope you will join us.
*This program is open to parents with children of any gender.
In Partnership with New Canaan Cares
Know Before You Go provides an in-depth look at the pervasive issue of college sexual assault. Parents will learn how to help their children identify attitudes, behaviors, and traditions present within college and Greek life that perpetuate and sustain sexual violence. Parents will also learn several policies and laws regarding sexual assault response on college campuses.
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Facilitated by The Rowan Center
About The Rowan Center
Serving the eight towns of lower Fairfield County since 1979, The Rowan Center provides free, 24-hour confidential support to those who have experienced sexual violence, or know someone who has. Our hotline provides advocates if a victim wants to go to the hospital for an exam, if a victim would like to file a police report, and/or if the victim has to go to any court proceedings. We can also be with the victims as the healing takes place, delivering goal-oriented counseling.
The Rowan Center also provides age and developmentally appropriate awareness and prevention education for K-12 students, colleges, corporations, law enforcement, community organizations, and more.
The eight towns we serve and support: Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston, Westport, and Wilton.
All of our services are available free of charge to individuals of all genders, including those who are cisgender, transgender, and non-binary, 14 and up, and are available in English, Spanish, and our counseling is available in Haitian-Creole.
