Students’ wave may have ripple effect for Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Statistics cited by the Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance — a community-based organization working to end domestic violence in Piscataquis and Penobscot counties — indicate that one in three teens will experience dating violence.
To mark Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, prevention educators from the Alliance spoke at a Foxcroft Academy assembly on Feb. 10 and led the gathered student body in the Wave of Change.
“As some of you know February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month,” Foxcroft Academy senior Bonnie Page — who volunteers with the Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance — told her peers during the late-morning gathering in the gym. “I know it’s sometimes a hard subject to talk about, it seems far away from little Dover-Foxcroft. It does exist and it is prevalent and something we need to talk about.”
Page urged her fellow students to look for the signs of teen dating violence, including control and manipulation as “it’s not just the physical aspects.” She said teen dating violence can lead to permanent damage in life beyond high school.
Angie Alfonso of the Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance then introduced herself and fellow prevention educator Adriana Hopkins to the Foxcroft Academy students. “Today we are taking a few minutes to talk about February, which is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month,” Alfonso said, saying the Alliance is “your local domestic violence resource center.”
“The repercussions of teen dating violence are impossible to ignore because the issue affects not just youth, but families, schools and communities,” Alfonso said. She said the month “brings national focus to this issue, highlights the need to educate youth and adults alike about healthy teen relationships, raises awareness and provides communities with a critical opportunity to work together to prevent this devastating cycle of abuse, which can continue into adult relationships.”
Alfonso said a nationwide teen dating violence awareness and prevention initiative was begun by high school students and evolved to the point where the movement has been formally recognized by the U.S. Congress. “Since 2010 our leaders in Congress have dedicated an entire month to teen dating violence awareness and prevention,” she said. “To celebrate, we are calling upon government representatives and agencies, public officials, advocates, service providers, schools, parents and youth to take part in programs and activities that promote awareness and prevention of teen dating violence.”
The prevention educator said the students may have heard about the month “but it is important for you to know that the issue of teen dating violence is closer to home than you may think. Statistics show that one out of three teenagers will be involved in an abusive relationship prior to graduating from high school. From a very young age we are taught that hands are not for hitting and that no one deserves to be hit or hurt yet sometimes we accept negative behaviors and actions from the people who claim to care about us the most. It is important for you to know that you have rights and responsibilities in every relationship.”
In 2017 the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence is challenging schools across the state to participate in the Wave of Change. “This campaign is designed to create a movement to engage youth in ending unhealthy and abusive relationships and to give voice to students experiencing these behaviors,” Alfonso said.
She then helped lead the students in replicating the sporting event fan action as those sitting on the north end of the bleachers stood and/or moved their arms up and soon those to their left did likewise until the everyone had taken part. Alfonso said the wave would be recorded and shared on various social media platforms, including the Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance Facebook page, with the hashtags Act2EndItMaine, WaveOfChange and TeenDVMonth.
After the end of February, the Alliance is hosting an evening time to talk about teen dating violence month. The session is scheduled for Thursday, March 2 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the agency’s 8 Mechanic Street location in Dover-Foxcroft. For more information, please call Alfonso at 564-8166.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
WEAR ORANGE DAY — Staff of the Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance were dressed in orange attire for a staff meeting on Feb. 10 at the agency’s Dover-Foxcroft office prior to Wear Orange Day on Feb. 14 to mark Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. Earlier in the morning Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance prevention educators Angie Alfonso and Adriana Hopkins spoke to Foxcroft Academy students about the month and helped lead the pupils in the Wave of Change to help draw attention to the issue.