MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Does your teenager know the warning signs of an abusive relationship? One in three teens experience verbal or physical abuse from a dating partner, according to a release from NCJW/Essex. This statistic is the reason that “safe dating” education is now required by law in New Jersey.
One such program took place in January at Columbia High School in Maplewood where students in ninth-grade health classes took part in a special program on teen dating abuse prevention and awareness. Students learned how to recognize signs of abuse, how to end abusive relationships and how to develop healthy dating relationships.
“Our goal is to build awareness for teens to prevent them from getting involved in an abusive relationship, and how to safely end the relationship,” Cindy Charney, a volunteer and past co-chairwoman, said in the release. “Abuse starts slowly and is often difficult to identify in its initial stages.”
The Teen Dating Abuse Awareness program is sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section, which, for more than 20 years, has been providing the classroom program free of charge in suburban and urban Essex County high schools. The program dispatches trained dating abuse educators to conduct the workshops in high school health classes.
The NCJW/Essex TDAA program fulfills the new N.J. Department of Education requirement to incorporate dating violence education into the health curriculum.
In the early years, the TDAA program was designated for high school juniors. Now it is primarily presented to freshman classes because teens are maturing earlier, and the problem is occurring at younger ages. In recent years, the curriculum has been updated to include information about the use of texting, social networking sites and other digital technologies in dating abuse.
This year, more than 60 trained volunteers have presented the program to approximately 3,000 teenagers. More than 50,000 students have received the program since its inception in 1992.
In addition to working directly with children in schools, TDAA runs a program for parent and community groups — such as PTAs, churches and synagogues — called “Teen Dating: the Untold Story,” and also provides staff workshops for adults working with teens.
For information about how to have a TDAA presentation in your school or for your parent group, or if you are interested in becoming a TDAA volunteer, call the NCJW/Essex office at 973-740-0588. Visit http://www.centerforwomenNJ.org/teen_dating_abuse.html for additional information.
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