In order to lead into the material in a way that engages young people, the curriculum adapted "ActLikeaMan" and "BeLadylike" stereotype boxes originally developed by the Oakland Men's Project in California. Students are asked what it means to be a "real man" and "a lady" in today's society. The young men and women usually respond with gender stereotypes such as "strong", "muscly" and "breadwinner" for men and "passive", "caring" and "beautiful" for women.

It is not difficult to envision the violence that might occur if a muscly breadwinner and a passive care-giver disagree. Through role-plays and group activities, students are taught the consequences of abuse of power, the importance of assertiveness, and alternatives to aggressive behaviour.

Currently in the second year of a threeyear evaluation of Healthy Relationships, the Manitoba Research Centre on Family Violence and Violence Against Women has reported preliminary findings that indicate students are learning some of the key lessons presented. The pre and posttests indicated a significant change from aggressive to assertive responses: boys were more inclined to oppose dating violence that they witness; students learned to identify stereotypes and hidden messages in magazine ads and they learned to distinguish when personal boundaries were crossed.

Numerous discussions with teachers, guidance counsellors and other facilitators indicate that teenagers respond to the material quickly; it retains their interest because it deals with subjects that are important to them.

Much of the learning takes place as a result of classroom discussion and role-plays rather than through lecture-style presentations of information. At some schools and other institutions the curriculum has become one component of an overall violenceprevention strategy. Its greatest success is in schools where the curriculum enjoys the support of administration at the highest levels.

Although the 53 classroom activities of the Healthy Relationship curriculum are userfriendly, some teachers and youth workers feel much more comfortable with the material after inservice training. This is not always possible because of budget constraints. Normally, individual teachers and youth workers embrace the programme, use it, and word begins to spread.

Most implementations have occurred from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. One notable exception is the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Juvenile Court and Community Schools Division, which piloted Healthy Relationships in late 1997 in 11 young offender facilities. A second group of teachers was trained in March 1998 to expand this implementation. Some of the teachers involved in the first pilot have reported that the young people (predominantly boys) are learning to deal with their anger assertively rather than aggressively.

In some jurisdictions, the exclusion of racism and multicultural perspectives has limited its acceptance. The codevelopers are planning to expand the scope of Healthy Relationships to address these issues in the next edition.