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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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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The Wilton bulletin published this story today about a powerful teen dating abuse display created by students at Wilton High School. Last week was National Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Week, but this is a great way to spread awareness of teen dating abuse as an issue any time of the year.
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