Love is respect – National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline

One of our most active peer ambassadors, Faythe has been continuing her projects with her school organization, Angels Against Abuse, which raises awareness on teen dating violence.  The organization holds many events in the community to promote healthy relationships such as skit performances and an annual block party. In honor of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, the organization has placed victim posters around the campus describing different stories of teens that have been killed.  There are also 500 light blue flags out on the courtyard representing the one in four students who will experience an abusive relationship during their time in school. Among many other things, Angels Against Abuse is working toward raising awareness in the community.

Recently, Faythe was featured on a PBS special in Colorado as part of a panel on Teen on Teen Violence.  Faythe represented both her school organization and the teenage perspective.  Along with the Director of the local domestic violence shelter in Denver, Faythe focused on teen dating violence.  The video can be found by clicking here.

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The women of Kappa Delta Sorority are on a mission to bring together nonprofit organizations and companies dedicated to promoting confidence in women and girls. They realize how important self-confidence is and they have set up the Confidence Coalition, a national movement that will enable women and girls to stand up to peer pressure and media stereotypes, say no to risky behavior and abusive relationships and put an end to bullying. loveisrespect is proud to be a partner in this initiative to help build confidence and we are very excited about helping out.

To celebrate confidence and raise awareness for the issue, the sorority has created National Girls Day on behalf of the Confidence Coalition. It is celebrated on February 28 and you can get more info by visiting www.nationalgirlsday.com. This is just one of many amazing events they have organized and the Confidence Coalition website has a whole list of things you can do to help as well as great tips on ways you can be more confident. Click here to check out the site. Also, be sure to check out the video below:

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This Thursday, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships national initiative to prevent teen dating abuse is launching a campaign to take “healthy relationships to the streets.”  On October 22nd, teens all across the country are putting together local events to get the conversation going on developing healthy relationships before the violence and abuse can even start.

Want to take part and make a difference? Help spread the word by sending out the following email from Start Strong to all your friends and family, and also be sure to follow the steps listed yourself :

BE PART OF A RECORD BREAKING DAY ON OCTOBER 22nd AND STOP ABUSE

On October 22nd,  we  are on a national mission to define a healthy relationship. It’s urgent, and we need YOUR input. Too many people are finding themselves in violent, abusive and damaging relationships. By looking at what a healthy relationship is — how to have them, build them and keep them — we can end abuse. 
 
Be a part of this RECORD BREAKING day. Start Strong’s goal is to get as many people as we can across the country (teens, adults, parents, grandparents, anyone and everyone!) tell us what they think about healthy relationships.
 
Below are ways that you can participate on October 22nd. A few minutes of your time can make a  lasting difference in someone’s life.  
 
1-      Help us spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends and family.
2-      Go to www.startstrongteens.org and give us your relationship feedback. We need to know what you know.
3-      IMPORTANT! Post a conversation starter to your Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/yfxr7yl) or Twitter profile. This will have a major impact.

For example:

(insert name) how do you start strong? Join the conversation http://tinyurl.com/tothestreets

(insert name) is on a mission to define a healthy relationship. Join the conversation http://tinyurl.com/tothestreets

(insert name) is wondering how do you define a healthy relationship. Tell us how to Start Strong before it ends wrong http://tinyurl.com/tothestreets

Thank you for doing your part to make sure that violence and abuse are never tolerated.
 
The Start Strong Community

Learn more about Start Strong at www.startstrongteens.org.

admin awareness, news, prevention, volunteer ideas

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and there are a ton of ways you can support the cause. We put together a list of cool things you can do this month to help spread awareness.

• Put a purple ribbon up as your facebook/twitter/myspace profile pic to show your support for ending domestic violence.
• Post a link on your profiles to www.loveisrespect.org to spread healthy dating awareness and let your friends know about the awesome resources we have if they ever need help.
• Send anti-dating violence awareness mass texts to your friends.
• Organize an anti-dating violence rally at your school.
• Submit an article on teen dating violence awareness to your school newspaper.
• Write a letter to get a Teen Dating Abuse curriculum in your school; Dosomething.org has great info on the steps you need to take.
• Create an anti-dating violence PSA and post it to your YouTube account.
• Print out our Teen Dating Bill of Rights and post it around school (with permission from school officials).
• Print out our quiz cards and hand them out at local events.
• Create a LOVE Mashup  and send it to your friends to promote healthy dating habits.
• Create a project for It’s Time to Talk Day. DoSomething.org is offering $250 Grants for your projects. Click here for more info.

mpotyrala Uncategorized, awareness, general, resources, volunteer ideas

We have big news! loveisrespect has just started recruitment for the Peer Ambassador Program! This is a national volunteer program opportunity and as a Peer Ambassador you would have the chance to work directly with loveisrespect to help shape our future by providing information, support and feedback about what teen dating abuse and real relationships look like in your communities, schools, etc. Not only that, you would get a free trip to Dallas, Texas to attend the initial meeting/training/ information-sharing weekend! Click here to check out more information or fill out an application. There are only 10 spots available so be sure to apply early!

mpotyrala general, help loveisrespect, news, volunteer ideas

February 2nd to the 6th is the fourth annual Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week.  Here at loveisrespect we are busy creating new LOVE Mashups and responding to calls and chats.

What are you doing?  Is your school hosting an event?  Can you add us to your Facebook or MySpace profile?  Check out our GET INVOLVED page to see all the ways you can show your support of loveisrespect and join the efforts to end teen dating abuse.  There are also tool kits for teachers to download and share with their classes.  Check them out!

If you have pics or videos an event or project for Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week send it in.  We love to show the great things teens are doing across the country.

loveisrespect awareness, general, peer advocates, prevention, volunteer ideas

On October 30th the Helpline staff and advocates celebrated the candy corny goodness of Halloween with a pumpkin carving contest.  Check these out!

Read more…

loveisrespect general, peer advocates, volunteer ideas

If you’ve got some old cell phones lying around the house, then you’ve go an easy way help survivors of domestic violence during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Call to Protect provides cell phones to survivors of domestic violence to ensure they have a way to reach help if they’re in danger. The cell phones that don’t go to survivors are refurbished and sold to benefit domestic violence causes.

So round up the extra phones in your house, and visit Call to Protect to find out how to donate. You may find a local drop off spot (like The Body Shop), but if not – you can mail them in. There’s also info on erasing your personal data from the phone before sending it off. And hey, it’s a great cause, but if you didn’t pay for the phone – check before donating.

loveisrespect DVAM, volunteer ideas

October is here. If you’re still looking for a way to get involved in Domestic Violence Awareness Month, consider adopting a local domestic violence shelter. Here’s how -

Contact your local domestic violence shelter (we can help you find it – just give us a call/chat). Ask what sort of donations they can use. Get some friends together (or do this as a class, club, etc.) and collect the items the shelter needs. Some examples of things a shelter might need are blankets, toiletries, clothing (for adults and kids), or cash.  But be sure to call and talk to someone first – some shelters have limited storage space (if you show up with a truckload of dental floss, they probably won’t have a place to keep it.)

Let people know about your project and start collecting. Collect items for a week, or continue to collect during all of October. You can ask teachers to set up drop boxes in their classrooms, set up a table during lunches to collect items, or even go door to door in your neighborhood. Then deliver your donations to the shelter at the end of the month.

If you decide to try this or any other activity to commemorate DVAM, please let us know. We’d love to hear about it.

loveisrespect DVAM, volunteer ideas

Austin people, we’ve got a new volunteer class starting in October. If you’re interested in becoming a Peer Advocate, answering calls and chats from teens across the country, please contact us. Training covers topics like crisis intervention, safety planning, healthy relationships, etc. We do lots of practice calls/chats with our new volunteers. And there’s always someone around to help. We promise.

Email us. We’ll tell you more.

*To ensure confidentiality for our callers and chatters, peer advocates have to work from our Austin office. If you don’t live in Austin and you’re looking for volunteer opportunities, give us a call. A Peer Advocate can  help you find something in your area.

loveisrespect news, peer advocates, volunteer ideas