CEDAR FALLS - High school boys were given the following scenario: In the locker room, a guy is making jokes about women. Other guys laugh and join in.

In another room, well out of earshot, a group of girls was discussing what they would do if they noticed a friend walking around with bruises.

"Does this really happen?" asked Willie Barney, Waterloo East High School principal and moderator of the boys' group. "Or is this just a made-up scenario, and we can move on?"

"It happens," offered a student.

That is just the beginning of the discussion Barney will get from the group, 100 of whom were hand-picked from East High to attend the Mentors for Violence Prevention seminar on the University of Northern Iowa campus Friday. A contingent of Northern University High School students attended, as well, and the group was facilitated by UNI mentors.

Founded in 1993 by Northeastern University, MVP is a leadership program that teaches students to play a central role in helping to combat things like rape, battering and sexual harassment. Normally tailored for college students and professional sports teams, the MVP program trains participants to recognize sexism, racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination and asks how they would react as a bystander in various scenarios.

Barney said it was easy to tailor the program toward high schoolers, as well. The East and NU juniors and seniors will now be mentors themselves in advisory sessions with younger students. High school students in Sioux City have tried the program, but it is the first year for MVP in the area.

"Now, getting them back to the building, they will turn around and be having these conversations with freshmen and sophomores on how to treat and deal with other people," Barney said.

Each of the scenarios presented to the groups - gender divided for more honest discussions, Barney said - provided several options for students to choose from, ranging from "do nothing, it's none of my business" to "get a group of people together and confront the perpetrator" and anything in between.

The MVP program is not only training forward-thinking students, it's also facilitating state law: In 2007, the Iowa Legislature mandated school boards adopt anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies, and in this year's session the Iowa Civil Rights Act was amended to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected under the law.

For Barney, it's about teaching what behaviors are inappropriate.

"I don't care where you go - the sexism, the racism, the 'isms' of the world exist in full force," he said.

Students might think sexist jokes are harmless, Barney cautioned, but they can escalate.

"There's a very small line between words and actions," he said to the boys during the locker-room scenario. "Do you have to care about a certain female to think a comment is sexist? That's what you have to figure out in your heart."

Contact Amie Steffen

at (319) 291-1464

or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.