Building Consent Culture
in Ontario High Schools
High School Too is an Invitation to Dream
High School Too co-creates care, accountability, and safety.
This two-year project is a collaboration between Possibility Seeds and the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association, funded by the Ontario Government as part of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
We collaborate with student board trustees, students, survivors, School Leaders, educators, advocates and community organizations from across Ontario to address and prevent sexual violence in high schools.
This is your invitation to dream and build a consent culture with us.
The education system is a critical opportunity to shift how we understand and respond to harm by building a culture of consent, care, and accountability.
We know what is at stake.
Nearly 1 in 5 students in Canada (CBC) have been subjected to sexual assault or harassment at high school. The above is not a statistic, it’s a daily reality for students navigating hallways, group chats, classrooms, and assemblies. The responsibility for ending sexual violence in high schools doesn’t rest on educators alone. It belongs to all of us: governments, school boards, administrators, caregivers, communities, and the institutions that shape our everyday lives. Real change requires more than awareness, it demands collective accountability, sustained action, and a cultural shift that puts consent and care at the centre of education.
We start with dreaming.
Dream with us new stories, systems, and ways of being with each other. Too often, young people are told to “be realistic,” but we see imagination as one of our most powerful tools. It allows us to name what’s missing, envision what’s possible, and co-create what’s next. We treat dreaming not as an escape but as a strategy. We see it not as idealism but as design. Dreaming is a collective act: when students, survivors, educators, and communities come together to dream, we are building the conditions for real, lasting transformation in our schools and beyond.
We build with the people most affected.
A core principle of the High School Too Project is working with communities, not for them, through co-design. Co-design is rooted in relationships, shared learning, and collective action. We bring together Student leaders, students, survivors, School Leaders, educators, and decision-makers to shape solutions grounded in care and built to last. Everyone is involved from the beginning to the end in co-creating change.
High School Too Movement
High School Too was initially started in 2021 as a network of student leaders and allies from across Canada working to end sexual violence in secondary schools. It was launched by Farrah Khan and the Consent Action Team in response to increased student walkouts and protests calling for action on sexual assault in high schools. Thank you to the initial organizers behind High School Too: Carolyn Bridgeman, Bronte Ibbotson, Keneisha Charles, Kaitlyn Demeria, Lidija Projkovski, Jenna Meier, Sofia Alda, Fechi Onyegbule, Florence Syed, and Farrah Safia Khan.
Your leadership, care, and commitment to building consent culture in high schools continue to shape a future rooted in justice, joy, and collective transformation.
Thank You Tarana Burke.
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Thank You Tarana Burke. *
Tarana Burke, a visionary activist from the Bronx, New York, created the Me Too movement in 2006, which centred the healing and empowerment of Black girls and women who are survivors of sexual violence.
Her work has illuminated the systemic injustices marginalized communities face and provided a platform for survivors to share their stories and find solidarity. The name High School Too is inspired by her groundbreaking efforts, reflecting our commitment to addressing the pervasive issue of sexual violence in educational settings.
Our work is conducted Indigenous lands across what is now called Ontario, on the traditional territories of many Nations, including the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississaugas of the Credit, Wendake-Nionwentsïo, Odawa, Ojibwe, Chippewa, Algonquin, Attiwonderonk (Neutral), and Métis Peoples. Gender-based violence is one form of colonial violence that has been used, and continues to be used, to disconnect Indigenous Peoples from their cultures, communities, lands, and waters.
As part of this project, we recognize that addressing gender-based violence also means addressing ongoing colonialism. We are committed to learning from and acting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and the Calls for Justice in Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls