Ohio is on the right path to helping prevent teen dating abuse. A Bill has been passed requiring Ohio schools to try to help stop dating violence. Local school boards will be required to adopt policies to prevent and address abusive relationships and train staff on the subject. Lessons in dating violence prevention will also be added to seventh through 12th grade health classes. The new law has been called “Tina’s Law” named after an 18-year old in Ohio who was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1992.
Back in March, Break the Cycle  released a report card  grading states based on their laws related to domestic violence and teen dating violence. Ohio had received an “F” but with these new changes, they are well on their way to passing with flying colors this year. Check out more about this story here.
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You all may have heard the buzz about a horrible scene in an upcoming episode of MTV’s reality show Jersey Shore where a female gets punched by a male at the bar. Shocking footage of the incident has been circulating online and MTV has decided to run a domestic violence PSA after the episode airs.
loveisrespect CEO Sheryl Cates has also released a statement condoning MTV’s decision to air the scene. “We applaud MTV for partnering with us to provide resources and help to members of their audience who may be experiencing violence in their relationships or lives.”
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Schools around the country are doing great things in an effort to bring awareness to teen dating abuse and promote healthy dating habits. Stacey Tanner’s ninth grade Personal and Family Development classes in Perrytown, TX have adopted “The Love is Respect Project” with help from resources they received from loveisrespect. They have distributed wallet cards describing warning signs of an abusive relationship to students throughout the high school as well as placing loveisrespect posters around the school. The students are even taking the project a step further, by competing at the state and possibly national level. Kudos to Stacey Tanner’s classes for doing such great work for teen dating abuse awareness! Click here to check out the pdf of a newspaper article on the class’ efforts. Plus we have more pics after the jump.
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Not sure if you caught us on the news last night but CBS Evening News with Katie Couric paid a visit to loveisrespect for its coverage of escalating violence in teen relationships. The news crew observed the peer advocates at work as they answered staged chats and calls to get a better glimpse at how everything works. Teen dating violence is a huge issue and loveisrespect has seen a 600 percent increase in calls and chats since 2007.
Technology is a big factor in all of this. There are so many new and different methods being used in abusive relationships such as texting, email and social networking sites like Facebook. Sheryl Cates, CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline and loveisrespect spoke with the CBS crew and mentioned how technology has changed the dynamics of the abuse we are seeing. Check out the full story here or click here to watch the video.
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We are so excited to announce that our live chat function will be featured as a direct link on MTV’s website. This will occur as part of MTV’s “A THIN LINE.” This initiative seeks to empower youth to identify, respond to and stop the spread of digital abuse. Digital abuse refers to behaviors such as sexting, cyber-bullying and digital dating abuse. According to a study released by MTV and the Associated Press, 50 percent of 14-24 year olds have been the target of some form of digital abuse, and 3 in 10 have engaged in “sexting.” If you haven’t experienced this abuse yourself, there is a good chance one of your close friends has.
MTV’s “A THIN LINE” will be putting out a lot of on-air specials, PSAs and a lot of cool online and mobile tools. We are proud to partner with MTV on this initiative with other digital abuse experts including Facebook, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Liz Claiborne, Inc., DoSomething.org and more. Their website has really fun features including an interactive quiz, a “Redraw the Line Challenge” and great resources, so be sure to check out ATHINLINE.org!
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Today marks Liz Claiborne Inc.’s sixth annual It’s Time to Talk Day. This day is dedicated to encouraging Americans to speak-up about domestic violence. People all around the country will be talking about this serious issue including schools, radio stations, businesses, government officials, etc. We are so proud to partner with Liz Claiborne for this amazing event and we are joined by other experts in the field such as MTV, Seventeen, Talk Radio News Service and many more. Check out loveisnotabuse.org for more info and great ideas for how you can get involved. Get your friends and classmates talking today and help bring awareness to this important issue!
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More and more schools are realizing the importance of teaching students about healthy relationships. A few Florida middle and high schools in Manatee County will be offering a new program this year that focuses on teen dating. The course will teach students how to recognize warning signs of an abusive relationship, how to end an abusive relationship safely, how to file a restraining order and many other useful tips. The course is called “Expect Respect” and was started by Hope Family Services, a local domestic violence agency. Check out this article to get more info on the awesome new program.
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Martina McBride was featured on ABC’s Primetime TV Special, “In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts” yesterday. The show featured interviews with various country music stars. Martina not only discussed the music business and her family life but she also talked about her concert tour with partial proceeds benefiting loveisrespect through Tickets-for-Charity, as well as the work she has done with us. Check out this link to view the whole interview. If you look closely you can see Martina and her daughter Delaney sporting loveisrespect t-shirts.
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Hey music fans – our friends at Tickets-for-Charity® are teaming up with Martina McBride and Trace Adkins on their Shine All Night Tour to make fantastic seats available to benefit loveisrespect (all for the same or better price you’ll find elsewhere)! Check out TicketsforCharity.com where a portion of each seat for the tour will automatically benefit the loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline.
Here’s an easy way to support our work and a great way to see the country music superstars when their tour kicks off November 20th! Great seats are available now on TicketsforCharity.com.
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We are seeing a third media frenzy over the Chris Brown and Rihanna story. This time, the world is seeing a poised and courageous Rihanna talk about a very confusing and painful time in her life. She is still trying to sort it out for herself.
One thing she has realized is that young girls are watching her and taking her actions seriously. In the Good Morning America interview, she said she could not take that “lightly.”
You may have noticed that some stories refer to her story as domestic violence and others as dating violence. It doesn’t really matter what you call it. Rihanna was hurt by a man who said he loved her. It was not her fault. It was his choice.
We will continue to see more of this story in the news as we all try to understand how this could have happened. It is a good discussion to have. Thank you, Rihanna for your willingness to share with us.
mpotyrala Media, news abuse, Media, Rihanna
