Be Wise Presentations

Ending social violence starts with education

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Young teenager in high school affected by social violence
Young teenager in high school affected by social violence
Young teenager in high school affected by social violence
Young teenager in high school affected by social violence

Social violence is putting our young people at risk

85%

of high school students believe it’s okay to use violence to defend yourself

32%

of high school students say fighting is fun

33%

of high school students like to watch fights at school

Our Be Wise Presentations are designed to change students’ perceptions of social violence…

We help students explore ways to resolve conflict that avoid aggression. Violence is never the answer.

Through the power of storytelling, we explain the true impact of fighting – for victims, families, friends, and the perpetrators. 

With practical examples, we demonstrate how students can prevent a heated situation escalating into violence.

39% of young people changed their attitude to violence after hearing Pat’s story.

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Hi, we’re Matt and Robyn Cronin

Our son, Pat, was a gentle natured 19-year-old killed by a Coward Punch in 2016 while helping a mate who was being attacked. 

The force of that punch fractured his skull, causing an inoperable bleed on his brain. 

Two days later we made the agonising decision to turn off Pat’s life support.

After speaking with thousands of students, we’ve seen that teenagers connect to Pat’s story. 

If it can happen to Pat, it can happen to anyone. 

That’s why we started this Foundation. And that’s why we want to share Pat’s story with your students.

The Pat Cronin Foundation Be Wise Owl represents our mission to help young people make wise decisions

We’ve shared Pat’s story with more than 80,000 students across 400 schools, nationally. We’re here to help your school too.

Our Be Wise Presentations explore choices, consequences and violence prevention strategies.

Created for students Prep/Foundation to Year 12

Developed by psychologists and researchers

Informed by parents and educators

Aligned to Victorian and Australian Curriculum

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BE WISE Presentation 1

Violence is Never OK: Outcomes of a Coward Punch

Year 7–12 • Group Presentation • 60 minutes

In our thought-provoking interactive presentation, students hear real and relatable stories about social violence, exploring:

  • Anger and aggression
  • Choices and consequences
  • Strategies to defuse conflict

We share Pat’s story to illustrate the worst possible outcome of social violence, and help students make wise choices.

Learning Outcomes

  • Students better understand how to deal with anger before it becomes aggression.
  • Students are shown how a single decision can have life-lasting consequences.
  • Students discuss and develop an awareness of strategies that suit them and their friends.

BE WISE Presentation 2

Rethinking Anger: Violence Prevention Strategies

Year 7–12 • Group Presentation • 60 minutes

In our follow-on presentation, students delve deeper into the triggers of social conflict and vital strategies, examining:

  • Conflict
  • Outcomes of Violence
  • Strategies to avoid violence

Through deeper understanding of Pat’s story and the stories of others, we explore self-awareness skills vital for preventing escalation of confrontational situations.

Learning Outcomes

  • Students better understand that changing our thoughts can change our actions.
  • Students are empowered to promote non-violent communication and peaceful conflict resolution.
  • Students are taught the “THINK PAT” strategy to defuse conflict and avoid violence.

Not sure where to begin?

We recommend that our Be Wise Presentations run in sequence. Start your students’ journey with Violence is Never OK to help them understand real-life consequences. 

Then continue the conversation with Rethinking Anger so students develop their own prevention strategies.

Get in touch and our team will help you plan the right approach for your students. 

It is rare that 700 students can be held spellbound in absolute silence while listening to a guest speaker”

– Justin Griggs, Marcellin College, VIC

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3 steps to Be Wise

step 1

Get in touch

Get in touch with our Education Manager.

step 2

Make a plan

We help you decide the best approach to suit your school’s needs.

step 3

Pick a date

Book a date for us to deliver a powerful and engaging presentation.

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Still have questions?

We understand schools have many wellbeing themes to deliver – we can work with you to align our Education Program with your curriculum requirements.

Not a school?

Our presentations are equally vital for sporting clubs, youth associations, community groups, organisations and businesses. Get in touch to find out how we can work with you.

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Here’s what other schools thought of Pat’s story

Slide
Students walked away feeling empowered to stand up against violence, with an understanding of the impacts of being a bystander to violence.

Alan had our students engaged from the minute he started sharing the emotional story of Pat and his family. This presentation is something all secondary students should experience. I truly believe the work of the Foundation and the sharing of Pat’s story will save many lives.

Danielle Harry
Teacher, Victoria

Slide
A very moving and real-life experience for students.

When I spoke with students, they said they understood the message, some of them said they could not believe how easily this could happen. Some students reflected on their own behaviour and did not realise the impact their own actions can have.

Teacher, Victoria

Slide
The presentation was far beyond my expectation and I would strongly urge all schools to make use of it.

In a time when footage of violence is so easily transmittable, it is imperative that teenagers be exposed to the broader and lasting impact it can have. The presentation was far beyond my expectation and I would strongly urge all schools to make use of it.

Tristan Clark
Teacher, Victoria

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Frequently Asked Questions

We can present in a shorter time frame if needed, but we recommend allowing 60 minutes if possible. This ensures adequate time for such an important message to be conveyed, understood, and processed by the audience. We will need a minimum of 45 minutes.

Our two presentations are suitable for secondary students, Year 7 – 12 students. An age-appropriate version of the Violence in Never OK presentation has been developed for Grade 5 and 6. See more on our primary school program.

Let us know the number of attendees that will be coming, and we’ll let you know how we can make it work.

We’ve presented to groups in classrooms, libraries, theatres, shared spaces, and clubrooms. Whatever space you have, if it is adequate to hold the number of attendees you’re expecting, we can present there. We recommend students are seated as opposed to sitting on a floor.

The presentations include video, so we need to have an AV set up so everyone there can see and hear well. Please let us know if you don’t have suitable AV equipment and we can arrange to bring our own.

Yes, we have a Violence Prevention eLearning program for secondary schools. The five lessons have been carefully developed in collaboration with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, teachers, psychologists, researchers, students, and parents. You can find more information about our eLearning here.

Yes — an incredibly valuable part of our program is a short pre-presentation student survey. It is anonymous and only takes two minutes to complete. We couple this with a post-presentation survey to measure success outcomes.

Not only do these surveys help students reflect on their learnings, they also help us with our critical work in researching the impact of violence prevention education.

You will receive our Presentation Resource for Teachers when you make a booking, to help schools make the most of our visit, and support teachers when discussing social violence and anger with their students.

You can request a particular presenter and we will do our best to meet that request. All our presenters are fully qualified and bring their own unique experience to their sessions.

Our presenter will call your main contact in the week before the presentation, to discuss any specifics for your school.

YES, absolutely – violence impacts everyone directly and indirectly, so we can all be involved in the solution.

Thanks to donations from our generous partners and supporters, money raised from fundraising activities, and government support, we fund* the first presentation per calendar year for all Victorian schools.

We aim to offer one fully funded session at each school annually to ensure our resources are spread evenly across as many audiences as possible. Additional and follow-up presentations cost $850 plus GST.

*But be quick! Fully funded sessions fill up quickly and are offered subject to funding being available.

Most schools embed one fully funded presentation into their annual wellbeing incursions, then continue with the Be Wise Education Program — talk with our Education Development Manager for more information.

Yes! We aim to offer one fully funded session at each school, and can deliver additional presentations at our standard cost of $850 plus GST. But be quick! Fully funded sessions fill up quickly and are offered subject to funding being available.

We have developed an age-appropriate version of our signature “Violence is Never OK” presentation. See more on our Primary School Program.

Yes, all our presenters have a current WWCC.

Our presentations are appropriate for all genders. We present to many single gender schools. The presentations are the same for all genders, as the message is to stop and think about the consequences of your actions. Our presenters are excellent at reading the emotions of young people and responding to the different issues as they emerge throughout the presentation.

Our presentations are annually reviewed and refined, but deliver the same content themes and learning outcomes each year.

Some schools like to book the same Year Level in for a presentation each year, so that each cohort can benefit as they move through their secondary school years.

For example, you may choose to book the Violence is Never OK presentation for your school’s Year 10 students every year, and the Rethinking Anger presentation for your Year 11 students every year.

Other schools prefer to book both presentations for the one Year Level as part of their wellbeing approach for the chosen cohort.

The Pat Cronin Foundation is dedicated to empowering young people to never use violence. The presentations reinforce the message of empowering people to make wise choices in all situations involving social violence.

We can discuss this at the time of booking and will suggest the best approach. We always encourage the audience to think about their own experience and to apply our messages to previous events, and more importantly future events.

We are unable to provide individual schools with their survey responses, as we do not collect identifiable data. We will aggregate our data across all the schools we visit, by year level, and report each term and build to the end of the whole year. We do this to ensure that no schools can be compared or labelled.

Yes. Our presentations integrate into the F-10 Capabilities Curriculum and our content links clearly to the Respectful Relationships Curriculum. Schools that are implementing a School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Framework (SWPBS) will also find strong connections to draw upon. See Victorian Curriculum links here, and the Australian Curriculum links here.