When most people think of domestic or dating violence, they think of adults being abused. The unfortunate fact is that there are millions of teens who experience this same thing in their relationships during middle and high school. The CDC estimates nearly 1 in 11 females and 1 in 15 males have experience physical dating violence in the last year. Also, 1 in 9 females and 1 in 36 males have experience sexual dating violence in the last year. For this reason, February is dedicated to being National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month (TDVAM). The theme for TDVAM this year is ‘Know Your Worth’. It is all about empowering teens to learn how important they are and how every relationship can be healthy. It is important for all teens to know that they deserve to be in a healthy and loving relationship.
This year TDVAM is having “Respect Week” the week of February 8th. Each day there is a different event or challenge that will take place to show your support of TDVAM and to share your story of dating violence if that is something you wish. The challenges are listed below:
- Monday– Respect Announcement. On your social media pages, make an announcement showing you deserve respect. Loveisresect.org suggests something like this: “I know my worth, and I am worthy of [respect, love, care, support, kindness, compassion, equality, honesty, a healthy relationship]!”
- Tuesday– Wear Orange. Show your support by wearing orange and posting pictures with the hashtags: #KnowYourWorth #loveisrespect and #TDVAM. If you don’t have anything orange, simply put a mark or draw a symbol in orange on your hand to show your support.
- Wednesday– Share Your Worth. Share what respect means to you and why you think it should be valued in every relationship. Write a song, a poem, or a short story and share it on your social media pages.
- Thursday– Respect Challenge. Challenge your peers and friends to talk about dating violence by tagging some of your closest friends or people you share a mutual respect for. You can also share ways you show respect or sing a song about it! Just do something to get others talking. Oh, and don’t forget your hashtags!
- Friday– Take Care of Yourself. It’s important for everyone to show self-care, whether in a relationship or not. On Friday, get the conversation started about ways you do self-care and get your friends to give ideas too. Maybe even plan a self-care day for you and your friends.
This year’s theme is fun and exciting, so get started now to think about ways you can show your support each day! For more information about this year’s TDVAM, click here. Also, stay tuned for the next couple of blogs where we will talk about warning signs of dating violence, ways to get out of a violent relationship, and how to support those we know who are in violent relationships.
If you or anyone you know if a victim of domestic violence please call us at 1-888-554-2501, our Morrilton office at 501-354-1884, or our Perryville office at 501-889-2030.
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