We Are Building Our FuturesWith Consent
High School Too is an Invitation to Dream
High School Too is an invitation to co-create care, consent and accountability.
This two-year, province-wide initiative will address gender-based violence in Ontario high schools. High School Too is led by the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association (OSTA-AECO), Ontario’s largest official student stakeholder group, representing over 2 million students. It is funded by the Ontario Government the Federal Government’s National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (NAP GBV).
This is your invitation to join us in dreaming, designing, and deep collaboration to reimagine what safety can look like for students.
Harm should not be the price students pay to graduate.
1 in 5 students in Canada have been subjected to sexual assault or harassment in high school (CBC).
This is not just a statistic; it’s a daily reality for young people in classrooms, hallways, homes, and communities. 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.
What Can We Do?
We foster consent culture.
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 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, Kendred Charles, Kaitlyn Demeria, Lidija Projkovski, Jenna Meier, Sofia Alda, Fechi Onyegbule, Florence Syed, Tiffany Wong, Lynn Nguyen 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