Final Report Section I

a. Summary of project goals with two sentences.

Empowerment of sexual education and gender awareness of teenagers in schools have been successfully implemented in SMK Mambau and SMK Bukit Kepayang. All participants and trainers are impacted by surreal experience through VR and pregnancy simulation which provided unique knowledge empowerment.

b. Did other fund-raising efforts contribute to your projects? What were they?

N/A = all funds used adequately.

c. Provide details about how your project actually worked.

Activities with a workshop-flow were held at 2 schools in Seremban Negeri Sembilan, led by peer facilitators we trained in UiTM Seremban 3. Sessions for themes 1, 2 and 4 focused on building communication skills, respect, consent, knowledge and courage of participants within the context of gender equality and having sexual awareness. While sessions for theme 3 enforce full senses experience of the pregnancy and sexual awareness activities with pregnancy simulation, VR simulation and roleplay.

Further details :

Theme 1 – Ice breaking

Goals :

1. Adding knowledge of the teenage life.
2. Understand the changes that occur in adolescence as well as their impact on adolescents.
3. Improving the skills to manage the changes faced so that the adolescent experience is carried out meaningfully.

Objective:

1. Creating a comfortable situation to work with new acquaintances in the group .
2. Improving social skills among participant student to foster teamwork.
3. Identify expectations about the program being conducted.
4. To enhance participants’ understanding of the objectives of the programme.

Activities :

1. Quidditch Ball
   1. Student participants are divided into small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Students will be given the task of creating a group name and group slogan.
   3. The music starts and the facilitator will throw the ball.
   4. Students who hold the ball when the music is stopped will start their respective group introduction sessions.

2. I am the DaVincci
   1. Students remain in small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Students are asked to identify what to like and dislike about being a teenager.
   3. The student will draw the listed points.
   4. Student drawings will be discussed in groups with facilitators.

3. Katakanlah!
   1. Students still remain in small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Students will cast their ballots through the Mentimeter app (the voting code will be given to the facilitator).
   3. Students answer the questions asked.

Reflection Session 1:

1. The importance of understanding the adolescent realm.
2. The importance of identifying the changes that occur in adolescence as well as their effects against teenagers.
3. The importance of identifying the skills of managing changes that occur in adolescence.

Theme 2 – Bonding

Goals :

1. Improving thinking skills among students in understanding the challenge or problem and its causes.
2. Improving the ability of students to analyse teens' lifestyles, habits and daily behaviours.
3. Improving students' ability to assess the impact of acts towards oneself, parents and family, as well as society.

Objective:

1. Establish trust among group members to share opinions.
2. Cultivate respect and maintain the confidentiality of the information shared.
3. Encourage students to exhibit empathy towards their own group partners.
4. Creating a safe environment to share opinions and experiences.

Activities :

1. Johny, Johny, Yes Papa! (Telling the Truth)
   1. Students are in small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Each group will be provided with several flashcards (flash cards)
   3. Students are asked to respond (in terms of thoughts and feelings) honestly to shared flashcards.

2. This or That?
   1. Students remain in groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Students will be given a list of questions to answer.
   3. Each answer given has a score.
   4. The facilitator will share the score obtained.

3. Siapa saya?
   1. Students still remain in groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Each student is asked to share a daily routine as a teenager.

Reflection Session 2:

1. The importance of having the ability to think rationally in understanding challenges and problems and their causes.
2. The importance of having a healthy and good routine as a teenager.
3. The importance of making an assessment of the consequences of each act committed.

Theme 3 – Empowering

Goals :

1. To encourage students to understand their own emotions and thoughts.
2. To improve students' communication skills so that they can
3. be able to speak confidently and firmly in self-protection.
4. To help build assertive skills in expressing the next opinion say NO.

Objective:

1. Improving assertive skills among students.
2. Expose students to reality in empowering them to express opinion.
3. Build confidence and courage among students to make decisions.

Activities :

1. Do you know?
   1. The student co-facilitator will do role-play activities on several situations.
   2. Students are required to respond to role-play activities.
   3. Scenario 1: Safe touch (facilitator roleplay for students)
   4. Scenario 2: Insecure touch (facilitator roleplay)
   5. Scenario 3: Video about rape

2. Virtual Reality (VR): Teens & Reality 
   1. Students are in small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Students will use VR in turn. 
   3. Students will also wear "Pregnant Vest" in turn.
   4. Students need to answer 5 simple questions.

3. No!!!! 
   1. Students go back into their respective groups.
   2. Strengthening activities will be carried out on the basis of two previous activities.

Materials :

Video Clip

Computer

White Screen

Facilitators’ role-play act

Bobo VR

Pregnant Vest

Reflection Session 3:

1. The importance of being familiar with the current reality. 
2. The importance of understanding one's own thinking to build assertive skills.
3. The importance of brave nature in oneself to say "NO".

Theme 4 – Safe Guarding

Goals :

1. To increase student participants’ maturity in gender equality and sexual awareness through knowledge.
2. To create awareness of responsibility for taking care of and protecting yourself.
3. To improve understanding of the support system which exists for teenagers.

Objective:

1. Increase awareness of responsibility to yourself.
2. Improve self-protection skills.
3. Increase awareness of the existence of support systems to students in the youth realm.

Activities :

1. I am the King/ Queen
   1. Students remain in small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. Students are given a piece of paper.
   3. Just like the King/ Queen who has a certain personality, students are required to declare the student's privileges.

2. Help Me Out!
   1. Students remain in small groups (approximately 10 members of the group).
   2. The facilitator needs to open a https://wheelofnames.com and fill in the names of 10 students to allow students to be selected at random.
   3. Students will unplug the paper from the box provided.
   4. Students perform tasks according to the instructions given by saying "Help Me Out!" at the end of the assignment.
   5. Other fellow students will have to respond to the situation within 3 minutes. 

3. SG Spectrum
   1. Students gather in large groups.
   2. The facilitator will make 3 flowers representing agreeable, disapproving and neutral options.
   3. Students will be screened with several situations and will have to make a choice based on 3 flowers (agree, disagree, neutral).
   4. Students are given 5 seconds if they want to change their minds.
   5. The facilitator who becomes a beetle will choose students who change their minds after making a decision.

Reflection Session 4:

1. The importance of recognizing one's potential.
2. The importance of the attitude of responsibility towards oneself.
3. The importance of the skill of caring for and protecting oneself.
4. The importance of knowledge of the support system for adolescents.

d. Were there unanticipated difficulties? Budget constraints?

Challenges are overcome with innovation and development approach.

There were unanticipated challenge with VR software adaptation. Hence we had to revise and adapt other VR videos in order to ensure compatibility. 

Furthermore, both schools provide limited time for our workshop project. Hence we managed our experiential learning theme into one slot. The outcome of this challenge is the development of a time suggested module.

Our “Training of Trainers” and training extended due to untrained manpower. Additionally, due to a incomprehensive experience of VR, we created a development of learning by doing workshop.

e. Language or cultural barriers?

There were language barriers as the students have difficulty understanding English, as reported by the school teachers during our pre-program module sharing session. Hence, we had to take time to translate the modules into Bahasa Malaysia and ensure of its simplicity before going to the schools. To eliminate any clash of culture and school rules, the module was shared beforehand with the school counsellors, after getting the green light from them on the content, we proceeded.

f. What worked well? What didn’t work well?

Peer-led groups created open sharing, VR and pregnancy vest is the highlight of the program where students feel the most emotion and reacted to the VR and pregnancy simulation. Furthermore, there were constraints with enough facilitators due to specific activities and we couldn’t cater to 400 students because the constraints of space and time. Therefore, the learning by doing approach coupled with the time-suggested modules worked best for us.

Additionally, VR headset and pregnancy simulation brings about a change in educational sharing and empowerment because not only VR and pregnancy simulation assists students to have a first hand experience about the reality of social interactions and reproduction cycles, especially for underprivileged children where they may not have the opportunity to have a better understanding of protecting and safeguarding their bodies and rights.

g. How many people benefited or will benefit from your project? Who are these people?

Over 205 students from SMK Mambau and SMK Bukit Kepayang participated so far, as we the most we could cater. We estimate thousands more over time as schools adopt the program as our facilitators advocate the module to various other schools. School teachers and counsellors will carry-on with the project overtime through continuous module sharing session by student trainers and our expert advisors.

h. What is the long-term impact and sustainability of this project? Is there a future for your project?

The module with its themes and educational resources has long term impact within the educational sector to break social taboos and give space for young children and teens in schools to learn about sexual education and how we should take care of our personal boundaries, beyond classroom setting. After the program, the school students had tremendous emotional reaction to the fact that the module helped them to understand better on the boundaries of social interactions, the untold facts about reproduction and pregnancy. The future of this project, since we have the VR sets available, so this is going to a bi-annual program carried out as CSR program by the FSPPP and APB departments in UiTM, every year. We are looking for a signing of MOU with the state education department (PPD) and also looking out for some NGOs. Both the schools have requested the program be added to their annual program for 2024 and beyond.

Final Report Section II

1. In several paragraphs, address each of the following questions:
   1. How does or will your project contribute to happiness? Short-term? Long-term?

Feedback from our participanting students collectively agree that the project will contribute both term which are short-term and long-term happiness. The facilitators emphasised that the communication, the games played with participants and the interactions of the participants being exposed to the roleplay, VR and pregnancy simulation all allowed student facilitators to be able to bond with participants and get to know how they feel. Each school student comes from a different background and through this program, they get to experience what others are going through in terms of sensitive issues like harassment and abuse. Meanwhile, the project gave long term happiness by increasing the awareness among participants about empowerment of safe guarding and protecting our bodily rights. Additionally, participants will have the ability to become advocates for gender equality and help teenagers to have a safe space to seek assistance and help which will give the happiness for the future as our community becomes more supportive and have more awareness in protecting the next generation from trauma.

Based on the survey that was carried out before and after the program in SMK Mambau and SMK Bukit Kepayang, the participants responded positively to this program by emphasising that the module and its activities has helped them gaining new knowledge and skills to pursue healthy, equitable relationships rooted in consent and respect through understanding boundaries and learning to respond to social interactions while interacting in a group and guided by the facilitators. Other notable contributions included : UiTM Seremban facilitators, trainers and advisors bringing the program into the schools lets them have exposure to something that they never talk about, the students felt they have freedom to speak about their concerns and ask questions on the topic of sexual awareness which is a taboo in most households as well as being able to discuss about gender and social interaction topics maturely which is difficult to do due to a lack of proper environment and methods to begin the discussion. All these contributes to their short-term happiness and well-being. Meanwhile, the participants commented that in the long-term, this program can help shaping more enlightened attitudes to respond and one day openly discuss about gender and sexual awareness topics, which will help happiness flourish by reducing gender-based harm in families and society.

For school teachers and counsellors, after the implementation of ‘Empowering Teenagers to Say No!’ program, they find that the pregnancy vest simulation, role play and VR simulation is a great teaching tool which can be further expanded into a permanent educational syllabus. The VR and pregnancy simulation for the teachers felt real and they commented that it is as though they are experiencing the harassment themselves. However, the teachers and counsellors do believe that although many pupils will benefit from the implementation of the program as a permanent school syllabus in the near future, there has to be better reinforcement of the program. Some counsellors commented that the pregnancy simulation triggered greater awareness of their pupils on free-sex and teenage pregnancies. Other than adjusting the module to suitable levels for different needs of students, the teachers believe that the module has great educational value.

1. ii. Has your project changed the way you think about the world? How has it changed you?

2.  

   Feedback from our participanting students collectively agree that the project will contribute both term which are short-term and long-term happiness. The facilitators emphasised that the communication, the games played with participants and the interactions of the participants being exposed to the roleplay, VR and pregnancy simulation all allowed student facilitators to be able to bond with participants and get to know how they feel. Each school student comes from a different background and through this program, they get to experience what others are going through in terms of sensitive issues like harassment and abuse. Meanwhile, the project gave long term happiness by increasing the awareness among participants about empowerment of safe guarding and protecting our bodily rights. Additionally, participants will have the ability to become advocates for gender equality and help teenagers to have a safe space to seek assistance and help which will give the happiness for the future as our community becomes more supportive and have more awareness in protecting the next generation from trauma.

    

   Based on the survey that was carried out before and after the program in SMK Mambau and SMK Bukit Kepayang, the participants responded positively to this program by emphasising that the module and its activities has helped them gaining new knowledge and skills to pursue healthy, equitable relationships rooted in consent and respect through understanding boundaries and learning to respond to social interactions while interacting in a group and guided by the facilitators. Other notable contributions included : UiTM Seremban facilitators, trainers and advisors bringing the program into the schools lets them have exposure to something that they never talk about, the students felt they have freedom to speak about their concerns and ask questions on the topic of sexual awareness which is a taboo in most households as well as being able to discuss about gender and social interaction topics maturely which is difficult to do due to a lack of proper environment and methods to begin the discussion. All these contributes to their short-term happiness and well-being. Meanwhile, the participants commented that in the long-term, this program can help shaping more enlightened attitudes to respond and one day openly discuss about gender and sexual awareness topics, which will help happiness flourish by reducing gender-based harm in families and society.

    

   For school teachers and counsellors, after the implementation of ‘Empowering Teenagers to Say No!’ program, they find that the pregnancy vest simulation, role play and VR simulation is a great teaching tool which can be further expanded into a permanent educational syllabus. The VR and pregnancy simulation for the teachers felt real and they commented that it is as though they are experiencing the harassment themselves. However, the teachers and counsellors do believe that although many pupils will benefit from the implementation of the program as a permanent school syllabus in the near future, there has to be better reinforcement of the program. Some counsellors commented that the pregnancy simulation triggered greater awareness of their pupils on free-sex and teenage pregnancies. Other than adjusting the module to suitable levels for different needs of students, the teachers believe that the module has great educational value.

    

3. 1. Has your project changed the way you think about the world? How has it changed you?

4.  

   The project changed my team’s thought about the world, whereby sex education is paramount and not a taboo topic. The program made sex education easily approachable and has increased my knowledge about its importance.

    

   Running this program showed me reservoirs of courage within our youth to create awareness and compassion when equipped with understanding. Seeing young people support each other through difficult conversations inspired me profoundly. My perceptions of "norms" around sexuality shifted as students questioned assumptions. I've gained lasting hope that harmful attitudes can truly evolve toward more empathy, equality and empowerment over time.

5.  

    

   b. Complete this section with a one to two sentence personal statement, suitable for use as a quotation, addressing how and why this project was valuable and what was the most important thing you learned as a result. (Indicate student’s name for quote attribution.)

6.  

   "I learned about how to communicate and attract students especially with this topic. The project is one of the valuable project that provide good impacts to the future of the students and will help to reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse statistics in our country." – Haziq, student facilitator.

7. "Saya tertarik dengan aktiviti workshop ini. Aktiviti yang unik dengan VR dan pregnancy simulation." – D., student beneficiary.