Students learn about healthy dating relationships

A few weeks ago, Jackson Simpkins and Rebecca Ward stood before a classroom full of 9th -12th grade students at Sissonville High School. They asked the students to put all reservations aside and have an open and honest discussion about dating relationships. After introducing the subject by asking their audience how they liked to be treated on dates (to which one girl's response was "Like a princess!"), Jackson and Rebecca presented them with more challenging questions. How do you not want to be treated on a date? What types of behaviors are unacceptable from a dating partner? What makes a relationship healthy versus unhealthy? What is the definition of "abuse?" What are different types of abuse? Why don't people just leave if their partner is abusive? What should you do if you or someone you know is in an unsafe relationship?

Jackson and Rebecca are the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program's Teen Dating Violence Prevention Specialists. They present these workshops in middle and high schools across the region numerous times each month as a way to reach out to tweens and teens about healthy dating relationships. Though interactive discussions, role play, stories and "what if" questions, they engage students to discuss the tough issue of teen dating violence. They even discuss how to keep yourself safe in an era of new technologies and confront gender stereotypes.

These workshops are so important in light of the recent high-profile domestic violence incident, in which R&B singer Chris Brown was charged with two felonies alleging he punched, bit, and choked his singer/star girlfriend Rihanna until she almost became unconscious. These young stars serve as role models to our young generations, so these conversations are critical.

Through funding from Verizon, the YWCA of Charleston has built a teen dating curriculum that is serving as a model for domestic violence programs statewide. The booklet our specialists distribute to each and every student they meet addresses national and statewide domestic violence statistics, myths vs. facts about dating violence, and warning signs of unhealthy relationships. Download the booklet today and share it with the tweens and teens in your life.

If you would like for Jackson and Rebecca to facilitate a workshop at your school, church, or community organization, please call (304) 342-6552.

Teen/tween dating violence - what every parent needs to know

CBS hosted a recent segment on The Early Show about “Teen Dating Danger – What every parent should know.” During this segment, they highlighted many shocking statistics from a recent study commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. and loveisrespect.org, the organization that operates the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline. The results of the survey found:

• 69% of all teens who had sex by age 14 said they have gone through one or more types of abuse in a relationship.


• 40% of the youngest tweens (those between the ages of 11 and 12) report that their friends are victims of verbal abuse in relationships, and nearly one-in-ten (9%) say their friends have had sex.
  
• One-in-five between the ages of 13 and 14 say their friends are victims of dating violence, such as getting struck, hit or slapped by a boyfriend or girlfriend, and nearly half of all tweens in relationships say they know friends who are verbally abused.


• Only half of all tweens (51%) claim to know the warning signs of a bad/hurtful relationship.

The Early Show featured several different experts on the subject of teen dating violence, who emphasized that “programs are needed to help parents and their kids recognize unhealthy relationships, and to stop them before they start.”

And the YWCA is working to do just that.

Each year, YWCA Resolve’s Teen Dating Violence Prevention Specialists provide over 100 educational workshops to more than 3,000 students and teachers at middle and high schools in Kanawha, Clay and Boone Counties. During these workshops, students learn about healthy relationships, warning signs of abusive relationships, what to do if a friend is experiencing abuse, myths and facts about teen dating violence, and additional resources for students, teachers and parents alike.

And we’re not stopping just because schools are out for the summer! On Thursday, July 31, from 5-7pm, the YWCA Resolve Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program is hosting “Celebrate Respect” – A teen rally to promote healthy relationships. We’re inviting teens 12-18 to join us at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, located at 314 Donnally Street in downtown Charleston, for free food, door prizes, music, workshops, expression through art, and more! Click here for more information or to download the event flyer.