February is teen dating violence awareness month. I urge all high schools to implement a workshop in February dedicated to teaching students about domestic violence, such as The Escalation Workshop by the One Love Foundation. It’s a 40-minute video followed by a guided discussion so it should take approximately 1 class period.

About one in every 10 U.S. high school students has experienced some form of dating violence and approximately ⅓ of girls in high school will experience physical, sexual, or emotional abuse before they become adults. According to Teresa G. Odle, the author of Abusive Relationships/Relationship Problems, “Nearly one-fourth of girls and more than one-tenth of boys who have been exposed to abuse experienced it first between the ages of 11 and 17 years at the hands of an intimate partner (boyfriend or girlfriend).” In reality, the estimate of teens affected by abusive relationships is likely higher than the statistics because teens often hesitate to report abusive acts. Not to mention that victims of relationship violence tend to stay in the relationship for an extended period because 70% of people are unaware of the abuse until they leave or are physically harmed. Educating teenagers in high school in a safe and informative manner will help break the abuse cycle ideally before it begins.

By educating potential victims and bystanders alike, we are creating a cohesive community of students, who are well educated, can recognize red flags, and know-how to diffuse a toxic situation safely for all parties, thus preventing the physical, emotional, and mental consequences of the abusive relationships as well as saving many of the lives of those who get abused. (This conclusion was drawn by Abir Bekhet in  "Escalation: Raising the college students' awareness regarding early signs of abusive relationships.")

*Help from loveisrespect.org (which is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) is available by texting love is to 22522 or telephone 1-866-331-9474.