Interested in hearing what teens think other teens need to know about the growing epidemic of dating violence? On Friday, Oct. 5th, a year’s worth of messages, created by teens for teens, will be unveiled in Delaware as part of a teen dating violence public awareness campaign. The “Messages from Teens” campaign, funded by a federal Department of Health and Human Services grant, was made possible through a unique collaboration between Jewish Family Services of Delaware, the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and community partners dedicated to violence prevention, including the DVTF/VRTF Prevention Subcommittee, the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, the Delaware Office of Prevention & Early Intervention, and Prevent Child Abuse Delaware.
 
This innovative program uses a multi-layered approach to raise awareness and prevent violence, including: dating violence prevention media projects in local schools; “Healthy Relationships” curriculum and crisis response training and support for school-based personnel; and a teen dating violence public awareness campaign using outreach materials that are either created or informed by teens. 

Through Jewish Family Services of Delaware’s Media Matters program, students from three Delaware high schools had the exciting opportunity to create professional-level Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on dating violence in an intensive, hands-on video production project.  Students received lessons on healthy relationships, learned media literacy skills, and developed the technical skills and expertise necessary to create PSAs.  Multiple forms of abuse are depicted, such as controlling a partner via text messaging, physical abuse, threats, intimidation, and coercion, in order to convey the importance of knowing warning signs for abuse.

Teens also felt the need to communicate elements of healthy relationships, such as setting boundaries and treating partners with respect.  As one teen shared, “Nobody really talks about it really.  I mean everybody focuses more on the abusive relationships, and you just kinda have to… use algebra to figure out that well, this isn’t happening, and this isn’t happening, so it must be healthy right?” 

The final frame of each PSA encourages viewers to visit www.safeandrespectful.org, a new website created by Delaware’s Domestic Violence and Victims’ Rights Task Force Prevention Subcommittee.  In a community call to action on Oct. 5th in Wilmington, DE, teens, parents, teachers, and community members will be encouraged to “Listen Up!” and work together to prevent dating abuse and create communities where healthy relationships thrive.