Youth Break the Cycle With Healthy Relationships
“At this very school, I had a friend in an abusive relationship, and it broke my heart that I didn’t know how to help her,” said Fayette Cares Victim Advocate Janisha Lax who joined Fayette Cares Victim Advocate Mykaila Dye in a collaboration with Fayette County Public Schools Project AWARE. Together they helped nearly 200, 9th grade Fayette Ware Comprehensive High School students learn about unhealthy relationships during Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence, almost triple the national average.
Young people are targeted by abusers and are particularly vulnerable because they may be new to relationships, more trusting, more impulsive, and may not have learned what healthy boundaries look like.
At the presentation, teens had questions about specific behaviors like aggressive texts from their partners. Some students realized they were experiencing dating abuse or witnessing abuse in their homes, or that their friends were in unhealthy relationships. “I remembered feeling powerless to help my friend back when I was in high school,” said Janisha, “but now we can give young people the tools to help end abuse.”
Contact a Fayette Cares Victim Advocate to learn how you or your group can end dating violence: advocate@fayettecares.org (901) 465-3802 x 222.
