Love is respect - National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline

Musician/domestic violence advocate gets vocal

kstonebock — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:53:01 +0000

We were recently contacted by musician Mars (MarsRaps) who sent us a video he made in response to hearing that 1 out of 4 women had an experience with domestic violence. After hearing that stat, he felt that he needed to say something, so he wrote this:

He then challenged his fans to help him spread the word about domestic violence through tweeting or facebooking their commitment with the hashtag #TakeAStand.

We are always excited when people find their own way to start talk about safe, healthy relationships. With October (Domestic Violence Awareness Month) right around the corner, we encourage you to start thinking about what you could do.

We love when people lend their voices to worthy causes. Good job Mars!

Our Friends at MTV Get Worthy Attention for “A Thin Line”

kstonebock — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:22:10 +0000

Why do we love MTV’s “A Thin Line” campaign? Because issues like digital disrespect, sexting, spying, and cyber bulling are things that affect so many teens. When our lives are filtered through our personal profiles and cell phones, it can be hard to know what is normal when it comes to internet/phone interactions. After all, often no one else sees your texts but you.

But that’s where athinline.org comes in. It has tons of teens talking about tech issues like that. Between videos, blog posts, quizzes and more, it’s a good place to get a lot of information. And if you need to talk to someone, MTV has listed our number and chat so you can discuss your thoughts with one our peer dating advocates.

So we’re very happy to see that MTV has been nominated for one of the biggest broadcasting awards around, the Golden Beacon Award. We wish them luck.

Listen to Jason Rzepka, VP of MTV’s Public Affairs discuss “A Thin Line” in an interview with JustMeans:

Loveisrespect Gets Mentioned on Real World New Orleans

kstonebock — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:36:55 +0000

Things got serious on the Real World last week. Fans watched as cast member Jemmye opened up about being in an abusive relationship and began seeking counseling on last week’s show.

Jemmye had an eye-opening moment after she had a breakdown after a day of heavy partying. She returned to the house and started breaking things, cussing the other house-mates out and refused to go to bed. It was during this tirade that Jemmye began to reveal things about her past relationship.

Read more about the events of the show in the Baltimore Sun’s write-up.

With the help of her roommate, Knight, Jemmye seeks help at a women’s shelter nearby. She begins talking about the situation and makes a commitment to go to counseling regularly. Watch the clip:

Real World XXIV: New Orleans – MTV Shows

At the end of the show, our helpline number ran, encouraging anyone who is in an abusive relationship, or knows of someone in an abusive relationship, to call for support.

Did you see the episode? Any thoughts?

Facebook Places Launches

kstonebock — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:44:25 +0000

On Aug. 18, Facebook unveiled Facebook Places, a location-based phone app that would allow users to tag themselves at places, much like Gowalla and foursquare allow people to check-in around town. With Places, users would also be able to tag their friends at a location, just like you would a picture on Facebook.

Take a look at the video Facebook created to debut this new feature:

The app is getting mixed reviews. Some people are excited about chance to easily find friends when they’re out and about. Other Facebook users are concerned.

Part of the issue is that Facebook doesn’t ask if you want to use Places, it assumes you do. If you’re a FB user, then you’re automatically capable of tagging or being tagged with Places. If you don’t want to use Places, or don’t want others to tag you, your settings must be changed to “disabled.” Click here to see how to disable Places.

Why would someone want to disable Places? For one, a person could be tagged at a location that he or she was never actually at. This could potentially lead to cyber bullying. Also, if someone has a controlling or abusive partner, Places and other location-based apps could serve as a map for the abuser to find their girlfriend/boyfriend.

Facebook Places is an interesting addition to the already mega-popular social network. Consider if it will be fun and safe for you before you use it.

On a recent episode of Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami

kstonebock — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:11:50 +0000

It was a scary sight: Kourtney Kardashian clutching her son Mason, quickly exiting the apartment that her boyfriend was trashing. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians spin-off Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami shocked viewers when Kourtney’s boyfriend and father of her son, Scott Disick, lashed out in a recent episode.

After the Scott and Kourtney started arguing, muffled thuds came from behind their closed door and Kim Kardashian, holding Kourtney’s son in another room, started calling out to her sister with concern. Kourtney soon emerged from the bedroom and locked herself in Kim’s room. Kourtney later revealed that Scott had sprung out of bed, grabbed her arm and that she smacked him across the face. The girls left the apartment immediately, and soon after, Scott punched a mirror, smashing both the glass and his hand.

To watch the video, click here.

The show’s season finale deals with the aftermath of this incident.

If you find yourself in a situation where you feel unsafe, remember you can always talk to someone anonymously at the loveisrespect National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline 1-866-331-9474.

Battle of the Bands for Dating Abuse.

loveisrespect — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:56:51 +0000

Over the weekend, Sheltering Wings, a domestic violence program in Danville, Indiana hosted their second annual Battle of the Bands. Local bands, with members ranging in age from 13-24, wrote songs about dating abuse or sexual assault. Among the bands that performed were Almost Awesome, Scarlet Dienasty, Achoo! I Sneezed, Holy Hand Grenade, 12 Hours of Kaos. The event sounds like it was a lot of fun and a great idea for raising awareness of dating abuse. We haven’t heard which bands won yet but we hope we have a chance to listen to them soon.

And as always – if your local domestic violence program or school is planning an event that focuses on dating abuse, please leave us a comment here. We’d really like to know about it.

Video Game Design Winners

loveisrespect — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 05:00:27 +0000

For the third year, Jennifer Ann’s Group, an organization formed in the memory of Jennifer Ann Crecente by her father, has sponsored a video game design competition with a purpose – to educate about dating abuse. You can view and play the winning games, Grace’s Diary, A Decision of Paramount Importance, and Jellia’s Friends by visiting the organization’s website.

All of the games mention loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline as a potential referral for those in need. We hope the Helpline will be able to help some of the people the games reach. For more information about Jennifer Ann’s Group and future contests, please check out their website at www.jenniferann.org.

Eminem’s New Video – ‘Love the Way You Lie’

loveisrespect — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:13:24 +0000

Have you seen Eminem’s new video, featuring Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie? The video portrays a violent relationship between two characters, but as actor Dominic Monaghan tells MTV news, ’”I think we tried as hard as we could to not glorify the violence, to try and explain that this was a relationship that is by no means ideal and a relationship that probably should have ended a lot sooner than it did.”‘

MTV Shows

If you’ve seen the video, what do you think?

vote to promote healthy relationships!

loveisrespect — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:02:30 +0000

There’s something you can easily do to support the prevention of dating abuse – vote for Paul Lavallee’s project at Pepsi Refresh all this month. Paul is a long time high school educator that became involved in the movement against dating abuse/domestic violence after a student of his was murdered by his ex-girlfriend. Funding for his project would allow for, among other things, the production and distribution of a dating abuse DVD and curriculum to high schools across the country. Hundreds of thousands of students could be educated to look for the warning signs of an abusive relationship.

You can find out more about Paul’s project, watch a piece of the video, and vote by visiting http://www.refresheverything.com/forjustin. Just click on the “Vote for this Idea” button and follow the instructions on the screen. You can also vote each day by texting 101930 to Pepsi (73774).

Please repost this message or pass it on to your friends and family. We’d really appreciate your support of this project.

In Their Shoes, a new training tool

loveisrespect — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:37:13 +0000

The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence recently made their training In Their Shoes: Teens and Dating Violence available for groups of adults that work with teenagers. The training is designed to allow adults to walk in the shoes of teens, facing obstacles and making decisions as a teenager would – especially where dating violence is concerned. Sexting, pregnancy, homophobia, and stalking are among the special circumstances encountered in the training.

The development of this training was funded by the parents of Dayna Fure, a Washington teen that was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2004. Hopefully, allowing adults a glimpse of the teen perspective will allow them to better assist teens attempting to end dangerous relationships in the future. For more information, visit www.wscadv.org.