Being Brave is a Practice
What does it mean to be brave in high school?
It’s not always loud or dramatic. Sometimes, it’s quiet. It’s when someone listens and believes you. Not to fix it, but to sit with you in what you’ve gone through.
That kind of bravery can change everything. It doesn’t erase harm, but it helps us remember we’re not alone.
The High School Too movement is about making sure schools are safe for everyone. It’s about telling the truth about sexual violence in high schools and building communities where students are supported, not silenced. Where survivors are believed, not blamed.
Farrah Khan, a longtime advocate for gender justice, knows how powerful that support can be. As a teenager, she went to a workshop about gender-based violence hosted by the YWCA and Girl Guides of Canada. At the time, she didn’t expect much. But when the facilitators named things like misogyny and stereotypes, it hit hard. For the first time, she had language for what she was living through.
She realized that what she had been experiencing was child sexual abuse. And that was the first step. Just naming it to herself. Because sometimes, the hardest person to tell is yourself.
Farrah’s story isn’t rare. Many survivors fear not being believed. According to Statistics Canada, one in five people who are sexually assaulted experience victim blaming or are made to feel like it was their fault. And when Farrah finally told people in authority — teachers, family — those fears came true. She was met with denial and blame.
Those first reactions matter. They shape whether someone feels safe to speak again or silence them.
Farrah didn’t stay silent. She found feminist books in the library, zine communities, and voices like Audre Lorde and Maya Angelou who helped her see she wasn’t alone. She started her own zine for survivors called Soar and developed the BRAVE Model© as a tool for peer support.
“We are asking you to be BRAVE: Believe. Respect. Ask. Validate. Empathize.”
She began sharing it at punk shows, youth events, and eventually in classrooms, universities, and global conferences. The BRAVE Model© has now reached over 100,000 people. But it started with one question: how do we show up for each other?
“We’re not here to fix each other but to witness, believe, and rise with each other.”
Being brave is a practice. It means choosing presence over performance, listening without judgment or needing every detail, and making it safe for someone to say, “This happened to me,” knowing they will be met with care, not blame.
That’s exactly what High School Too is fighting for. A culture where students feel safe telling the truth about their experiences. A school environment that doesn’t punish or silence survivors but supports them. A world where bravery isn’t punished — it’s met with respect.
There are nearly one million incidents of sexual assault reported in Canada every year, and the vast majority are never reported to police. These numbers aren’t just statistics. They are classmates, teammates, and friends.
Creating safer schools isn’t someone else’s job. It’s ours. Every time we choose to believe someone, to listen without judgment, to support instead of shame, we are helping build a better culture.
We don’t need to be perfect. But we do need to be present. Because being BRAVE is not a one-time thing. It’s how we show up for each other again and again.