Students at Dungog Public School discussed being respectful to their fellow classmates, friends and family members on Wednesday – the nation’s White Ribbon Day.

White Ribbon Day is an annual campaign that puts domestic violence in the spotlight.

Students in stage 1 were each making a square for a respect quilt which was to be sewn up and bordered with white ribbon.

Teacher Robyn Norris said it will take 10 to 15 years before a change in culture is seen.

“If you start teaching children about respect at an early age, they will follow it through,” she said.

“It’s about being respectful across the board.

“This year the message is about being an active bystander, to make sure it’s safe to speak up and not sit back and let it happen.”

Four senior boys spoke to the Chronicle about the message they learnt from White Ribbon Day.

Logan Nelson said the day was to stop violence against women and children.

“It’s all about stopping abuse in general,” he said.

Matthew Gilliland said the students did role playing to show abuse and how to resolve it.

“We pretended to push and made fun of a fellow student and discussed what we would do to help, to intervene,” he said.

“In real life we would find an adult or police officer to help.

“Most abuse happens when people are not respectful to each other.”

Kane Giddey said violence is often fuelled by drugs and alcohol.

A group of men organised a sausage sizzle and urged Dungog men to sign an oath against domestic violence outside the Bank Hotel on Wednesday evening.

One of the organisers, Tim Francey, said it was first step to being a positive role model for the young men of the Dungog Shire.

Alison Martin from Dungog Shire Community Centre said numbers were very encouraging.

“There were a lot more blokes than last year who signed the oath . . . there was a sense of momentum to make it bigger and better next year,” she said.

“There were quite a few community leaders there, but a lot of young local fellows wanted to become more involved next year.”