Violence Rising?
By: squirtle10
Many relationships can be cherished for years, but others can be meaningful in a negative way. A new law in Rhode Island requires that all public middle and high schools teach students about the signs and dangers of dating violence in their health classes. The law is named the Lindsay Ann Burke Act after a 23-year-old who died as a result of being involved in an abusive relationship. Violence is a serious, preventable public health problem affecting more than 32 million Americans, or more than 10% of the U.S. population.Texas and Rhode Island are the only two states who currently have passed such an act or law. The law is aimed to teach teens the warning signs of abusive relationship and to make victims feel empowered to get help and leave violent partners. The program focuses on nurturing good relationships as well as avoiding abusive ones, it also focuses that not only can women be in abusive relationships but so can men. I think that this shouldn't be an everyday class but maybe during "TEAM" time once a month spend some time on learning about the signs and warnings of abusive relationships. If schools teach Sex Ed, the problems and effects of drugs and alcohol, they should also be teaching how not be a victim of domestic violence, which is a rising crime in our country. It is now estimated that at least one out three high school and college-aged youth experience abuse at some point in their relationships. More states may begin adopting policies like Rhode Island's, but I personally don't think as a society we are as aware as we should be.
11 comments:
Our school should have this too!
It may not seem like a big thing in our school, but it's not like people are going to talk about themselves getting abused. I have never been physically abused, but emotionally I have from a relationship, and it was a great feeling knowing where to turn to and how to deal with the problem.
Our students need that comfort, even if they don't have a problem right at the moment.
I agree completely with this article. I have known adult women that have gone through abusive relationships and I even have a teenage friend who is going through one right now. It would be a great idea to teach teen girls about this at this age so they know what to do in this situation and know who to turn to for help!
I also agree that this Act is a good idea. Some people in an abusinve relationship only stay because they're scared or they don't have anyone else to turn to. I think letting them know that the school and their friends can and will help them, will give them strength and encouragement to get out of that relationship.
I agree with the article in that we should have some time during TEAM time where we can talk about problems in relationships that we may have but I don't know if we really need a whole class devoted to the problem. Some people aren't comfortable talking about things like abuse and relationships around other people, they would rather be one on one with an adult or professional. If we have it as a class, and group, the people with problems may not actually talk about them and get the help they need because they don't feel comfortable talking about it infront of the group, and therefore, won't get the help that they may need had they had one on one time with an adult.
I fully agree with this law. To many people today are in abusive relationships and going down to yound kids, and trying to teach them about it is an amazing idea, and would help the country if they made this a law in more states.
Completely agreed my pokemon friend. The rates of violence in our country are rising at a drastic rate. Yet we wonder why. I blame it on the media, now a days all that is shown are the negative stories about genocide, murder, rape, and the list goes on... As a society, I think Americans enjoy blood shed to much. It shows in our movies for one thing. I mean how many Saw movies and Resident Evil movies are there? The point is violence is rising as a whole. Not just in relationships.
First of all...no one enjoys "TEAM" time because its boring. So i think it would be a very good idea to talk about this since it would actually be a topic that comes up in our daily lives.
I think this law is great. I'm glad some states are finally noticing how dangerous the real world is and how high school doesn't prepare you at all for it. High schools need to start focusing on real world events and how dangerous it is and how unprepared we will be once we get out of high school. More schools need to focus on issues like these and start teaching students how to protect themseleves.
I love team time bc its the one time of the week i get a decent breakfast but yeah it would be kinda cool to talk about some of this stuff during a time when we have nothing better to do.
I agree with everyone else. Maybe when we learn about abusive relationships, we will learn how to prevent them, and then there will be less so we will hear about fewer abusive relationships.
I think this is a great idea. Too many people have been or are in abusive relationships. We need to work to prevent it in the future while helping those in them now.
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