Teen Dating Abuse Awareness Month
Check out these ideas and get involved to prevent dating abuse in your community. You may help save someone’s life.
Teen Dating Abuse Awareness Month is an opportunity to highlight this important issue and talk to the teens in your life about healthy relationships. Learn more about characteristics of healthy relationships, the warning signs of dating abuse, and tips for starting the conversation. Make sure to follow OPDV all month long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @NYSOPDV.
Get Your School Involved
Schools and youth programs can raise awareness of teen dating violence in a variety of ways:
- Download and display one or more of the four Teen Dating Abuse is #NotJustPhysical posters
- Design your own banners, fliers or artistic displays to make a statement.
- Reach out to clubs and groups at your school to help organize/fund events (i.e., dramatic performances, speakers, educational campaigns, etc.).
- Write an article for your school newspaper to raise awareness of the issue.
- Ask your school to develop a dating abuse school policy.
- Like OPDV on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest news, campaigns and information. Encourage your friends to do the same.
Get Involved in Your Community
- Volunteer at your local domestic violence program.
- Organize an event to raise money for a local domestic violence program or collect items the shelter needs
Be an Active Bystander
Being an active bystander means doing something to stop abuse that is happening, intervene before abuse happens, or get help for the person being abused. You may not think it is your place to get involved, but dating abuse is not a personal problem. It is a serious crime that affects us all.
First and foremost, keep in mind safety: yours and the victim’s. You should never do anything that can put yourself or the person being abused in danger. If you think a situation might be dangerous, call 9-1-1.
There are many ways to safely be an active bystander:
- Speak out - If you see a friend talk to or treat his or her partner disrespectfully, say something. Try something like, “Hey. I heard the way you were talking to Chris. That was really mean. Why do you treat Chris like that?”
- Respond as a group - when talking to someone about abuse, it sometimes helps to have friends join you for the conversation.
- Create a distraction - If you see someone being abusive, create a distraction. For example, spill your drink, ask the abuser for directions, or stand nearby pretending to talk on your cell phone.
Remember – If things get out of hand or become too serious, or if you’re not sure what to do, call 9-1-1.
For more on being an active bystander: