PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
  1. Signatures
    96 out of 10,000
    Petitioning
    1. NYC Schools Chancellor (Dennis Walcott)
  2. Created By
    Start Strong Bronx
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

 

Here in New York City, almost 11% of New York City high school students (more than 1 in 10) reported being slapped, hit or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past year. More than 7% of NYC teens have been forced to have sex. Currently, the NYC Department of Education does not include the definition of dating violence in the Respect for All policy or Chancellor’s Regulation A-831, which address peer-to-peer sexual harassment and bias crimes. Dating violence is defined as verbal, physical, sexual and emotional abuse by a dating partner. 

 

Join  Start Strong Bronx, New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, Day One, Girls for Gender Equity,Children’s Aid Society, The Center Against Domestic Violence,  and Safe Horizon in our efforts.

“No school can be a great school until it is a safe school first.”  - Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education

 

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Revise the Respect for All policy and Chancellor's Regulation 831 to include Dating Violence!

Greetings,

We, the undersigned New Yorkers, want to educate and empower youth to build safe and healthy relationships because, as Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan says, “No school can be a great school until it is a safe school first.”

Recently, the New Jersey legislature became the seventh state to pass a law requiring school districts to provide dating violence education, following the trailblazing states of Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Rhode Island, and Nebraska.

Please sign our petition as we aim to join our fellow Americans in this pioneering movement!
Specifically, we ask the Chancellor to:

1) Include the definition and behaviors of “youth relationship abuse or sexual violence,” (dating violence) in Chancellors’s Regulation 831 and the Discipline Code to protect students and reduce the DOE's liability under Title IX, should a dating violence incident occur involving one of their students. Doing this would also prohibit mediation and/ or conflict resolution.

2) Specify "youth relationship abuse or sexual violence" or dating violence in the Respect for All policy. Dating violence involves the same behaviors as bullying and harassment in a dating context. Including dating violence in the Respect for All policy ensures that it will be integrated into educational programming and staff and teacher training and that the central office will be able to track dating violence incidents by school to measure needs and progress.


Sincerely,
Start Strong Bronx, New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, Day One, Girls for Gender Equity, Children’s Aid Society, The Center Against Domestic Violence, Safe Horizon

[Your name]

Press Inquiries