Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: About the Coward Punch

15 minutes

Find Out: The Campaign

25 minutes

Take Action: Heads or Tails

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: About the Coward Punch

Step 1

Welcome students to this workshop. Outline your organisation or school’s behavioural expectations for the session.

For example:

Own your ideas by using “I think” rather than “you should”.
Respect each other by remembering that each person has their own beliefs and values and their own worldviews, experiences and opinions. Each person has a right to contribute their ideas, so listen politely.
Be brave in sharing your ideas, experiences and opinions.
Consider the privacy of your classmates and appreciate that everyone has the right to uphold their privacy; this might mean they don’t want to share their ideas or experiences on an issue.
Share feedback in a way that is considerate and positive: remember to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback.

Safety first: Explain that some of this content might be challenging for some people and that if they need to take some time out, that is ok. Invite students to just check in with an adult in the room so that someone knows where they will be.

Step 2

Ensure everyone can see the screen and play this video from STOP the Coward Punch:

JAIDEN'S DAD (https://vimeo.com/669710752) Password: CowardCool

Invite students to share with a partner how they felt about the father’s story. How do you imagine his life has changed because of his son’s death?

Step 3

Explain that you are going to read out some terms or statements. If these phrases are true for them, they should raise their hands. Read the following, allowing time for students to respond non-verbally:

I have heard of a coward punch
I have heard of a one punch
I have heard of a king hit
I have seen a coward punch advertisement before
I am aware that a coward punch, one punch or king hit can lead to death
I am aware that a coward punch, one punch or king hit can lead to permanent injury to the brain
(Optional - at facilitator discretion) I know of someone (including celebrities) who has been affected by a coward punch, one punch or king hit (depending on the situation, group and student, you might feel comfortable allowing the student to briefly share their story).

Note: Monitor student responses. If there are any students who seem to know a lot about the issue, consider following up with them to check in that they are ok and offer additional support. It may be that they have been personally affected by the issue.

Find Out: The Campaign

Step 1

Play this video that explains the background of the STOP the Coward Punch campaign and its successes up to 2018.

Coward's Punch - Case Study (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vTuZ3EHvhI)

Explain that the video they watched at the start of the session is a more recent campaign, launched in November 2021.

Step 2

Invite students to turn to a partner and discuss the following:

Do you think the STOP the Coward Punch is effective?
Is the STOP the Coward Punch campaign relevant to your age group? Why or why not?

Take Action: Heads or tails

Step 1

Explain to students you are going to play a game of heads or tails. You are going to read a series of statements. Students will be standing up. If they believe the statement is true, they should put their hands on their heads. If they believe it is false, they should put their hands on their hips. Whoever is wrong will be ‘out’ and will sit down. Those who are correct can continue to play.

Optional: Provide some STOP the Coward Punch promotional items as prizes for three finalists. These can be purchased at: https://cowardpunchcampaign.com/shop/

Step 2

Invite all students to stand and then read out the following statements (you might also like to display them on a wall or board) allowing time for students to select heads or tails. Then reveal whether they are true or false:

Most victims of a coward punch know the person who hit them
- FALSE - There is an equal chance of victims and perpetrators being known or strangers to each other, however, in the case of strangers, the perpetrator is more likely to continue to hit the victim after they fall.
Most coward punches occur in or around a pub or nightclub
- FALSE - The majority of cases (41.5%) occur on the footpath or roadside. This is followed by homes and accommodation (32.9%), and licensed venues in only 8.5% of cases.
Over a third of coward punch victims will die
- TRUE
The number of coward punch deaths in younger adults is dropping
- TRUE - Between 2012 and 2019 the median age of victims rose from 33 to 44, meaning fewer deaths in younger adults.
Coward punches never happen on a weekday
- FALSE - Around 58.5% of coward punch cases occur on weekdays, however, when looking at the frequency by individual day, Saturday is the most prevalent with around one-quarter of all cases. In the last study (2012), weekends were the most frequent, so this has been changing over the last few years.
Coward punches only occur when the perpetrator is under the influence of an illegal drug
- FALSE - Only 27% of offenders have a history of illegal drug use and 20% had THC (found in marijuana) in their system when offending.
A majority of coward punch deaths involved alcohol
- TRUE - Alcohol was detected in around 62.6% of cases, and when alcohol was detected it was at very high levels, often over three times the legal driving limit (median 0.167% BAC).
Mostly men are involved in coward punches
- TRUE - Most coward punches are thrown by males, however, a small percentage of cases (around 2.4%) involve a female perpetrator. Females have been shown to have a powerful role in the prevention of these kinds of violent attacks.
Most coward punches occur at night or in the early morning
- TRUE
More coward punches happen in the country than in the city
- FALSE - Only 35% of cases occur regionally, with 65% occurring in metropolitan areas.
If you survive a coward punch, your life will go back to normal eventually
- FALSE - Most survivors will have ongoing injury or disability and reduced capacity to function.
Every single coward punch incident is preventable
- TRUE

Note: For more information and statistics refer to:

Learning Support: remove the elimination, allowing all students to take part. Alternatively, you could do this as a scale activity where students move to spaces in the room designated as true, false or unsure. You could invite students to share their thinking.

Step 3

Thank students for attending and invite anyone with any concerns or experiencing challenging feelings in response to the content to reach out to one of the facilitators. You might like to show them the referral agencies listed on the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues Factsheet (page 2) or place posters up around the space for the following weeks or months.

Step 4 (optional)

If you are planning to deliver other content related to coward punches across your school or organisation, bring this to the students’ attention.

Learning extension - Students could conduct a SWOT analysis on the STOP the Coward Punch campaign and suggest ways it could be made relevant for different age groups, such as younger teenagers or middle-aged adults.

Reflection

In groups of three or four, ask students to share their thoughts on the session as follows:

a like,
a dislike
an ‘aha’.

Coward Punch - Introductory Workshop

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