District Attorney Ryan Leads Teen Dating Violence Prevention Forum
TYNGSBOROUGH – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan led a training for 300 teachers and staff at Greater Lowell Technical High School to raise awareness about the epidemic of teen dating violence.
“The statistics are frightening,” said District Attorney Ryan. “One in three teens report knowing someone who has been physically hurt by their partner. We have to recognize the complexities of teen dating today, and the way abusers can exercise control in these relationships, particularly through cell phones and social media. Teen dating violence, as with adults, is about power and control and can be as abusive and dangerous.”
The program, held January 29, provided teachers with information about the prevalence of teen dating violence and the role they can play to ensure that teens have access to resources and support if they are in an abusive or unhealthy relationship.
Young adults between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence in the nation, according to recent studies. Furthermore, only three percent of teens in abusive relationships report that abuse to authority figures.
District Attorney Ryan spoke about the evolving nature of teen dating and relationships. “Before we all carried cell phones and had access to computers, young people would communicate after school hours with friends through phone calls at home, giving parents the opportunity to know who was calling and how often,” said Ryan. “The proliferation of electronic devices has changed all that. Now, teen relationships exist in an environment of constant communication, with text messages exchanged at all hours of the day and night and endless social media posts, often unseen by adults or even teens’ friends. These on-line communications, which may include abusive language and threats, can take place in private and can quickly escalate to manipulation, bullying or pressure to have sex or to take sexually explicit photos.”
District Attorney Ryan shared resources with school staff, including information about two Lowell-based programs, Alternative House and the Lowell Community Health Center, that provide services and counseling for victims.
Ryan urged teachers to be engaged with their students on the topic of teen dating violence. Among her recommendations were to:
Establish an advisory board on teen dating abuse
Develop a written school policy
Provide in-service training to increase awareness
Develop resources for intervention and referrals
Maintain a zero-tolerance climate for dating abuse
Following the presentation by the District Attorney, Greater Lowell Technical High School student Jonathan Shoemaker and teacher Briana Burtsell presented a mobile application and informational materials created by students to address teen dating violence through the Greater Lowell Evaluation and Advocacy Network (GLEAN).
GLEAN, a domestic violence high-risk assessment and rapid response team, was created in 2012 by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in partnership with the Lowell Police Department, Alternative House and over 20 other public, private and non-profit agencies from the Lowell community. The program works to reduce and prevent domestic violence homicides and hold offenders accountable by coordinating communication and information-sharing between the police, courts and community providers.
In 2013, GLEAN partnered with students from Greater Lowell Technical High School. Students designed a logo, poster, mobile application and other promotional materials to educate the public. Greater Lowell Technical High School has shared those materials with its more than 2,100 students and staff.
The teen dating violence prevention program was presented by the Middlesex District Attorney in conjunction with Middlesex Partnerships for Youth Inc. (MPY), a non-profit organization which provides prevention and intervention resources and training to Middlesex school districts and communities. District Attorney Ryan is the Chair of the MPY Board of Directors.
Through the efforts of District Attorney Ryan and MPY, educators, parents, and students can regularly engage in collaborative trainings with law enforcement, social services, and community-based organizations as well as share the latest information and resources. Such interactions provide the foundation for creating solution-oriented, community-based, multi-disciplinary approaches to addressing youth violence, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, hate crimes, and harassment across Middlesex County.
For more information on prevention and intervention programs hosted by the Middlesex District Attorney visit http://middlesexda.com/
Middlesex County is the largest county in Massachusetts and one of the largest counties in the country with 54 cities and towns and 26 colleges in urban, suburban, and rural areas, comprising over one quarter of the population of Massachusetts. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has offices throughout the county, including in Ayer, Cambridge, Concord, Framingham, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Newton, Somerville, Waltham and Woburn.