Podcast on Crimes Against Women
The Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW) is thrilled the announce the Podcast on Crimes Against Women (PCAW). Continuing with our fourth season, the PCAW releases new episodes every Monday. The PCAW serves as an extension of the information and topics presented at the annual Conference, providing in-depth dialogue, fresh perspectives, and relevant updates by experts in the fields of victim advocacy, criminal justice, medicine, and more. This podcast’s format hopes to create a space for topical conversations aimed to engage and educate community members on the issue of violence against women, how it impacts our daily lives, and how we can work together to create lasting cultural and systemic change.
Podcast on Crimes Against Women
From Education to Action: Creating a Culture of Respect and Safety for Teens
Discover the alarming truth about teen dating violence with Katie Blackburn, executive director of Jana's Campaign, as she shares powerful insights and strategies to combat this pervasive issue. Through the tragic story of Jana Mackey, whose advocacy ignited a movement, Katie outlines how education is key to preventing relationship violence among teens. Get ready to learn how understanding and recognizing early warning signs can empower young people to foster healthy, respectful relationships.
Explore the often-hidden world of emotional abuse in teen relationships, where manipulation and love bombing are more than just buzzwords—they're dangerous patterns that can have lasting impacts. Our conversation sheds light on how early education around consent, boundaries, and healthy communication can disrupt the generational cycle of violence. Katie passionately emphasizes the importance of teaching teens to recognize and reject these harmful behaviors before they can take root.
Technology plays a dual role in teen relationships, offering both connection and potential for harm. Hear how social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok influence teens' interactions, sometimes facilitating abuse through blurred boundaries and cyberbullying. We dive into the critical role adults must play in shaping safe environments and policies, fostering open dialogues about digital safety and respectful relationships. Tune in to understand how comprehensive education and community involvement are crucial in breaking the silence and building a culture that stands firmly against abuse.
The subject matter of this podcast will address difficult topics multiple forms of violence, and identity-based discrimination and harassment. We acknowledge that this content may be difficult and have listed specific content warnings in each episode description to help create a positive, safe experience for all listeners.
Speaker 2:In this country, 31 million crimes 31 million crimes are reported every year. That is one every second. Out of that, every 24 minutes there is a murder. Every five minutes there is a rape. Every two to five minutes there is a sexual assault. Every nine seconds in this country, a woman is assaulted by someone who told her that he loved her, by someone who told her it was her fault, by someone who tries to tell the rest of us it's none of our business and I am proud to stand here today with each of you to call that perpetrator a liar.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the podcast on crimes against women. I'm Maria McMullin. When reflecting on teen dating, thoughts or memories may gravitate towards love notes and laughter, school dances, awkward kisses and constant connection. Although those things may exist in reality, the teen dating domain offers a much more grim picture. In fact, statistics reveal that 1 in 12 teens experience physical dating violence and 1 in 10 teens experience sexual dating violence. These numbers are exacerbated by the ubiquitous nature of social media, internet access and the continual glorification of violence and sexuality within pop culture. Unfortunately, many of our children suffer from anxiety and depression, engage in unhealthy or illegal activity and even attempt or succeed in committing suicide due to dating violence. Our conversation today will center around what can be done to confront and combat the enduring phenomenon of teen dating violence.
Speaker 1:Katie Blackburn is the executive director of Jana's Campaign. In her role, ms Blackburn oversees all internal and external operations, as well as provides programming and training to thousands of students and community members. She also leads Jana's campaign's efforts to educate on the topics of healthy and unhealthy relationships, ultimately to prevent the violence before it starts. Ms Blackburn has been deeply involved in the relationship violence prevention community since 2015 and holds a bachelor's and master's degree in organizational leadership from Fort Hayes State University. Katie, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure we're here today to talk about teen dating violence. But before we dive into that topic, tell us about Janice Campaign and how you got started working with youth.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Janice Campaign is a national education and violence prevention organization dedicated to reducing relationship violence through education and community engagement. The organization was founded in honor of Jana Mackey, a passionate advocate for women's rights and social justice, who tragically lost her life to domestic violence perpetrated by an ex-boyfriend. Her family and friends established Jana's campaign to continue her legacy by empowering individuals and communities to prevent violence before it starts.
Speaker 3:One of our core focuses is youth education, because we know that early intervention and prevention education is key to stopping violence before it starts. We work directly with middle schools, high schools and colleges to provide age-appropriate programming on common warning signs of unhealthy relationships, healthy relationship behaviors and bystander intervention strategies. As for me, I got involved with this work at Janice Campaign about nine years ago after graduating from Fort A State University with my master's, our co-founders Drs Christie and Kurt Rengar. Jana's parents were my college professors, who I had the privilege of learning from, and now I have the privilege of working with students, educators and community leaders to bring prevention programming into schools and classrooms across Kansas, colorado and Nebraska. Mainly, our goal is to equip young people with language knowledge and skills that they need to build healthy, respectful relationships and to recognize those red flags early.
Speaker 1:That's a great overview. Thank you for all of that background. Can you tell us a little bit more about Jana and what happened to her?
Speaker 3:Sure, I'd be happy to. So Jana was an amazing, outstanding woman. She grew up in Kansas and attended the University of Kansas and was actually first there on a music scholarship and then found her passion in gender and women's studies. She graduated and then she was a lobbyist at the Kansas State Capitol, advocating for women's rights as well as safety, and decided that law school would be the best next step to really create change in her home state and then beyond. So she attended law school at KU and it was actually during her first year of law school that she met him.
Speaker 3:They dated throughout the whole first year and towards the end of her relationship she started to notice some common red flags and warning signs like extreme jealousy, possessiveness and even stalking. So she decided to break up with him. Because what's really ironic about Jana's story is not only was she working, you know, at the state level, she also was a volunteer victims advocate, so she was working firsthand with victims and survivors, so she was an expert on these topics. So she broke up with him and then three weeks later is when he murdered her he actually fled the state of Kansas and they found him in New Jersey and he was put in jail and then he took his own life while he was in jail. And so, because of all of that and because of who Jana was, her parents felt like this was the best thing that they could do. Her parents were also professors of leadership and they felt like, because we teach young people that leadership is about creating change, that's where we need to be focusing our efforts.
Speaker 1:She sounds like an amazing young woman. I did read a little bit of her story before you and I got together today and she was so accomplished and so inspirational and I think that this is the perfect type of movement. She would have really gotten behind a movement like this had she never been a victim of dating violence. So we're here to talk specifically about teen dating violence today and, of course, the education programs that Jana's campaign presents across the country, and you're operating on the front lines, interacting with teens directly. What do you believe are their most challenging obstacles when they are dating?
Speaker 3:You know, I would say one of the biggest challenges that teens face is understanding what a healthy relationship is. Many young people are navigating relationships for the first time and their understanding of love, boundaries and respect is often shaped by peers, the media, as well as family dynamics, and they might feel pressure to be in a relationship. They might have unrealistic standards that are set by the media. They also might face pressure to engage in behaviors that they aren't comfortable with or that they're inexperienced in. I think also, jealousy and control can be mistaken as a sign of love, and so, you know, I think all of those aspects are obstacles that they face.
Speaker 1:And how do they approach those obstacles?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that is a great question, because I think it's probably different for every situation how they are approaching them. I don't know, first, if they're even aware that they should be, or, two, that they're relying on their friends for peer support. I know later on there's a question that we'll be discussing regarding support systems, and it's not uncommon that those young people who are experiencing violence will not disclose to anyone but their peers, and so I think within themselves they're discussing these things rather than seeking help from a trusted adult or other resources that are available.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a really fear-inducing situation and teens are already faced with a lot of fears, or facing a lot of their fears, and one of them would be to out somebody who's committing these kinds of acts, and especially doing it to your. Telling your parents would be incredibly terrifying. You know, if you're a teenager, so I could think there's just so much fear in the situation that it can be difficult for them to even face those obstacles. You know head on Now, abuse within adult relationships can look different than those in teen relationships. Can you share with us some of the warning signs of teen dating violence and maybe within the context of what parents should look for, what educators should look for, what other peers should look for?
Speaker 3:Yeah for sure. This is actually something that we focus on quite a bit is identifying these common warning signs extreme jealousy and possessiveness. You know constantly checking in, accusing their partner of flirting or cheating on them, or you know acting as if they belong to them, that they own them. Isolation is very common, so a partner may try to cut off their partner from their friends, their family as well as their interest in extracurriculars, and they might have mood swings, so going from affectionate to cruel very quickly, or utilizing their anger to manipulate and control. And some of those controlling behaviors can be telling what their partner, what they should and shouldn't wear and who they should hang out with and maybe how they should act. It can also be coercion, so pressuring or pushing a partner into unwanted physical, sexual or emotional situations. That could be partying, drinking or doing drugs, etc. Digital abuse, so constantly texting, demanding passwords, monitoring their social media accounts, seeing who's liking their pictures or utilizing technology to harass or manipulate.
Speaker 3:One piece that I really wanted to focus on, because we see this happen often and young folks, I think, aren't always aware that these behaviors can be unhealthy and are unhealthy. But emotional abuse, so constant criticism or put downs, guilt, tripping and manipulation in that regard, self-harm or suicide if the relationship is to end. We do an activity with young people. So far. We've done that for the past 10 years with a little over 10,500 middle school and high school students in Kansas, colorado and Nebraska and that data shows that 33% of students that we've done the activity with say they or someone they know has threatened suicide if the relationship were to end. So we know that these social issues are really closely tied and it's extremely important for us to recognize the connection so we can better prevent them together.
Speaker 1:That's a great list. I hope people are taking notes on all of those warning signs. What about love bombing? Is that a form of abuse?
Speaker 3:Yes, I would say that would fit underneath the emotional abuse category. You know, while my list that I had focused on criticism and put downs, love bombing would be the opposite. So, constantly filling them, you know, telling them how beautiful they are, that they love them so much, all of these various things.
Speaker 1:Or maybe just wanting to be with them constantly.
Speaker 3:Yes, right, too serious, too fast, right. So maybe they say I love you within the first week or two they were dating, so that the partner that is on the receiving end of that love you might feel pressure to say it back and they might not feel the same way. So, yeah, I definitely think that that can be considered emotional abuse as well.
Speaker 1:Thank you for kind of helping me understand that a little bit more. Let's talk about some of the traits that cause dating violence.
Speaker 3:For sure. Dating violence is often a result of learned behaviors or social influences, and it can, you know, things that can lead to those behaviors include lack of healthy relationship, education Right. So if teens aren't educated on respect and boundaries and consent, they may unknowingly engage in harmful behaviors. I think exposure to violence so witnessing that at home in the media, like TV shows and movies and music that they listen to Maybe their peers normalize controlling behaviors as well, and so they're seeing that in their friends' relationships and that exposure makes it normalized Also, again, peer pressure, societal norms, some social expectations can allow for these harmful power dynamics to take place, unfortunately, naturally. And then I think also, you know, sometimes because young people's brains are still developing, they don't always have great emotional regulation skills, and so I think that that can play into some of these behaviors becoming normalized or becoming something that they engage in regularly without even again, you know being aware that their actions are harmful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you mentioned consent and I'd love if we could clarify what consent actually means.
Speaker 3:Sure. So we at Jana's Campaign use consent and permission interchangeably. Consent is a mutual, enthusiastic and ongoing agreement to participate in any kind of activity and of course that includes sexual activity. But it's not solely for sexual activity and many people, not just teens, struggle to understand exactly what consent is. It must freely be given. It cannot be obtained through pressure or guilt or threats even and it can be withdrawn at any time.
Speaker 3:So if somebody agreed to one thing before, they have the right to say no at any point and withdraw that.
Speaker 3:I also think it has to be specific. So saying yes to one thing, like holding hands or giving a hug, does not mean that they have permission or consent to do something else, like kissing or even sexual activity, and it requires awareness, right. So if somebody is under the influence of drugs or alcohol or even asleep, they cannot get consent. And when we're talking about sexual assault specifically, that occurs when consent is ignored or violated, and so educating teens on boundaries and respect and having clear communication can help prevent these things from occurring in the first place. I think that consent should be practiced from little kids up till we're adults. Asking a young child if they want to hug, aunt Sally is asking for consent. Rather than telling them to hug Aunt Sally, they should be able to make that decision and give consent themselves, and I think that kind of behavior that we can practice as adults will help shift into young people below the teenage age, as well as teenagers, better understand what consent actually is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it really helps them set boundaries for themselves and that just becomes an important life skill, moving forward in lots of different ways. And I like the way that you kind of put the boundaries around the word consent and what the meaning is. And you know. Other examples not just sexual activity, even though that's a big one would be things like drinking or, you know, forcing someone to do drugs with you if they don't want to do that or they don't want to drink or they don't want to go to a certain party. All of those things can be coercive and lead to teen dating violence, I would think, or abuse in any type of a relationship. Now studies about intimate partner violence in general uncover that when boundaries are broken or victimization as a child occurs, that the chances it will happen again as that child matures is greater. Can you provide some insight into this concept and share with us how you see it manifest in the work that you do?
Speaker 3:Sure. So, like you shared, we know that research illustrates that individuals who experience childhood victimization whether that's through abuse or neglect or even exposure to domestic violence they are at higher risk of experiencing or perpetrating intimate partner violence later in life. And this pattern is often known or referred to as the generational cycle of violence because it occurs early. Experiences can shape a person's understanding of relationships and power dynamics and conflict resolution, and we see this occur in our work in several ways. So teens who struggle to recognize that the behaviors are unhealthy, so they don't necessarily realize that they're in an abusive relationship or that their partner has controlling behaviors because they've grown up in environments where that's the norm or they were common.
Speaker 3:Some teens and young adults are also unaware of how to set boundaries. I would say that would be myself. When I was a young person, I was very unaware of how to set boundaries because I never understood what that actually meant, and so I think that's a huge learning opportunity for young people and adults. And then we also know that perpetrators who have a history of trauma while not all abusers have that history themselves some who grew up witnessing violence may repeat those behaviors if they've never learned healthy conflict resolution skills. We see this as an explanation for their behavior, but never an excuse. The work we do in schools helps interrupt that generational cycle. So while the history of childhood victimization can increase the future risk, it doesn't necessarily determine that person's faith. So if they have education and support and early intervention, we really believe that we can help young people build those healthy and safe relationships and stop that generational cycle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really positive and powerful message that can come out of this type of training. Now I'm curious about how teens perceive healthy versus unhealthy relationships. Is this a concept that they readily grasp, or do they seem to hold on to an already established narrative in their own minds about what this means?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's a great question to ask. From our experience, or my experience in providing our programming, I think some teens immediately understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy behaviors or relationships, and others do hold on to misconceptions that have shaped their personal views and experiences. So, like we've discussed before, some of that might mean jealousy means that they care. So if they're constantly texting me, that's a good thing, right, because they always want to text me and know where I'm at and who I'm with and what I'm doing. But those questions really lean towards jealousy. Fighting may be seen as a normal part of every relationship, so they might think that constant arguing or even dramatic breakups are just a part of young dating relationships and it's not abuse unless it's physical, which I think is a common misconception for the issue as a whole. But emotional, verbal and digital abuse are more common for young people than that physical violence ever is, and so they might not take it as seriously because it's not physical violence. Or maybe they just think that's how relationships work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think a lot of the things that you point out are really glamorized in film and pop culture and music and on social media. You see a lot of those themes in films, especially about, you know, boy meets girl, they fall in love, things fall apart, she's heartbroken, he's angry and this isn't a new concept in literature or film. One of the earliest films I remember watching along those themes was when I was a young kid watching Wuthering Heights, one of the original versions of Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier, and it was so tragic. He was such a dark, tragic figure.
Speaker 1:But the whole dynamic throughout the movie everyone is abusing everyone else and it's not funny, but it's just so in your face, right, and it's everywhere and we all grew up with it and so we've had to make conscious choices about what types of relationships we want to have, what types of boundaries we want to set. So let's talk about the home life of some teenagers. So if a teen is growing up in an abusive home, that teen may think teen dating violence is normal or it might feel normal to them that's a normal course of a relationship. But as an educator, how do you address that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I know I briefly spoke a little bit earlier on some of these dynamics, but I think that teens who grow up in abusive households unhealthy behaviors such as control, jealousy and manipulation or even physical violence, can feel normal or even expected. As prevention educators, we challenge. Our challenge, excuse me, is to help these teens recognize that unhealthy, what is unhealthy, and introduce alternate relationship models and empower them to make different choices. So we approach this by creating a safe and judgment-free space. We focus on building trust and listening without judgment and encouraging them to feel heard and respected before we offer them any guidance or connect them to a trained advocate, and that we also want to always reinforce that abuse is never at the fault of the victim or the person experiencing that harm. We also work to help them recognize patterns of abuse right, because it's not just a one-time thing. As humans we have typical human behavior like jealousy and anger, but when those behaviors are occurring as a pattern, as a continuous act, that's when we can identify those as unhealthy and abusive. So teens who have witnessed that abuse at home may not see verbal put downs or extreme jealousy as problematic. So we utilize interactive discussions to help them recognize those red flags, teaching those healthy relationship behaviors. So not only focusing on what is unhealthy, but what is a healthy relationship and what that should feel like. So including respect, trust, good communication, support, moving at a mutual pace and then also having fun.
Speaker 3:I think that's an aspect of relationships that sometimes teens can forget about that their relationship should be fun and they should enjoy time with their partners.
Speaker 3:We also empower teens to, you know, set those boundaries, and what does that look like? Or how can I set boundaries? And that saying no can maybe help them feel like they have more control in their relationship and that it's okay to tell somebody no. Then we also discuss some different coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and anxiety, because we also know that's a crisis that our young people are facing today is high levels of of stress and anxiety, and then, of course, connecting them with support systems. So, like I shared, we do work in a tri-state area, sometimes even beyond, and so when we provide programming, we're not always around, so we want to make sure that we are connecting them with local resources. So if a teen ever discloses that they're experiencing violence at home or in their own relationship, we make sure that we provide them with information to their local advocacy resources and then encourage healthy friendships, mentors and school staff connections so they can have, hopefully, a sense of safety and belonging outside of their home and within their school as well.
Speaker 1:You mentioned alternate relationship models and I'm curious if you can give us an example of maybe one of those. And then also I'm also curious about how teens feel or what feedback you get from them about this type of education.
Speaker 3:Sure. So an alternate relationship model could simply be comparing and contrasting an unhealthy relationship to a healthy relationship, and that I feel like we really focus on that through storytelling. So we share Jana's story and we highlight all of those red flags that she identified, and then we can utilize that as a comparison. Okay, if you're identifying these types of behaviors, it's more likely to be unhealthy or abusive, right. But if we're identifying these types of behaviors like respect and trust and accountability, right. So self-accountability and taking responsibility for one's own action rather than placing the blame on their partner, and so that's one way that we do that.
Speaker 3:We actually have great feedback from young people. I would say the thing that sticks out the most is, time and time again, we have students come up to us after we provide our programming and they will share. Thank you so much. I didn't even know I could talk about these things. You've given me language to now know that I can share how I've been feeling, what I've been experiencing, all of those types of things. So we absolutely believe that teens are change makers, and so we love to hear that they feel like that's something that we've given them is the language that they can now express and talk about the experiences that they've had. Yeah, what a powerful gift.
Speaker 1:Right, you can start to name feelings or name experiences. Then you can really get to what's happening and maybe how to resolve it. Good for you. I'm so glad to hear that. Thank you. Now we're talking about dynamics. That Now we're talking about dynamics and teens. These days, as you mentioned, they have hundreds of platforms to rise up or rise against something and to create and recreate themselves in real time. How does all of this impact their idea of dating? That can lead to violence.
Speaker 3:So I focus my perspective on this regarding the digital age that we are now living in.
Speaker 3:You know, teens have platforms like Instagram and TikTok and all these other various things, and I feel like it has completely transformed how teens view experience and engage in life, but also in relationships. I mean, I think it has both positive and negative impacts. Technology allows and I always think, too, back to the pandemic and how it was challenging for everyone, but I think, especially for teens. I think it has just totally shifted how they connect with others, shifted how they connect with others. But you know, technology, the online platforms allow for connection, self-expression and even advocacy for the things that they're passionate about, Like politics, like you mentioned.
Speaker 3:I think I've seen, or I feel like I've seen, more teens getting involved in expressing their thoughts and opinions on political aspects. But I also think that having that platform and access to information and other people can create unique risks that can contribute to unhealthy dynamics in a relationship. One constant connectivity that's something that past generations didn't have and that is something that they're dealing with all the time. They're constantly online, whether that's through texting, and they might not have natural boundaries set up that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and to that point that being able to reach someone instantly and then the expectation that they would respond to you, it equally is yeah. And it becomes instant gratification isn't really what I'm trying to describe. It's that, yeah, and it becomes instant gratification. Isn't really what I'm trying to describe. It's that like, where were you, Like what you know, having you at my fingertips at all times, Right.
Speaker 3:For sure. Yeah, I would you know? Add to what I mentioned that this is something that this is their norm as well? This is a social norm for young people. That this is their norm as well. This is a social norm for young people. So, pressure to send intimate or private photos, cyber bullying, manipulation, threatening posts like if you really loved me, you'd prove it by doing this type of thing, I think. Describing a couple other forms of technology facilitated abuse monitoring I mentioned that One thing that I have from providing programs and having the opportunity to have real conversations with young people is you know, this texting piece is something that's always occurring, but also pressuring your partner to FaceTime you all the time or to fall asleep while FaceTiming together.
Speaker 3:Um, oh wow, I hadn't heard of that. Yeah, young people will, in a safe environment. Young people will share a lot with you and I think that's I really love that, because it helps us make sure that our programming is relevant and accurate to the experiences that they're having. Another really common thing that they have shared is the use of Snapchat and the map the Snap Map that's on Snapchat to constantly be monitoring, so maybe you don't get an answer right away from that text message, so you pull up Snapchat and go to the map to see where they're at, because you didn't get that immediate response.
Speaker 3:Wow, and so that you know, from my experience and my understanding of stalking, that is considered a stalking behavior.
Speaker 3:I also think that this is unique and something that young people are doing, unfortunately, is maybe using fake accounts or asking their friends to follow an ex, to keep tabs on them after they've broken up and to add a statistic to the sending explicit photos from that activity that I mentioned earlier that we implement 51% of students that participated say they or someone they know has sent, received or asked for an inappropriate or private photo. So that's you know around 6,000 students that we've worked with that know somebody who has sent, received or asked for an inappropriate picture, and then I think, if those pictures are out there, there's an additional coercive and potentially threatening behavior of you know, if you don't do this, then I'll share those pictures out. So, definitely, technology facilitated abuse is something that is occurring often and something we are continuously learning about, because I think some of these behaviors are fairly new and something that I didn't have to deal with growing up because the technology wasn't available at that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and AI only complicates this further. We haven't even touched on that and how deepfakes are really destroying people's lives or at least their mental health. When it comes to sharing photos and creating photos that aren't you but look like you, and that's probably a whole episode in and of itself. I agree, I love that teens feel safe to disclose information in this type of a forum. I'm also curious if it empowers them to speak up on behalf of others or at least question their peers or talk to their peers if they suspect that they're experiencing some type of violence, experiencing some type of violence. So let's talk about bystander syndrome or the bystander effect, and how teen dating violence is impacted by that.
Speaker 3:Sure, I definitely think the bystander effect plays a significant role in teen dating violence. They're witnessing and experiencing these behaviors and I think they might be hesitant to intervene because they might not recognize it as abuse. As we discussed earlier, they're fearful of social consequences, so they're worried about losing a friendship or even getting involved. Maybe they feel like they don't know enough to get involved. They think somebody else will step in the typical bystander effect, or they might feel powerless because they're unsure of what to say or what to do. When we provide our bystander intervention trainings, I would say fear of social consequences or fear of retaliation is what young people are sharing most often as reasons why they're not stepping in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that that could be true of adults too. When people don't stand up when they witness something that fear, we're back to that. We started off the shows talking about fear. Fear is definitely a reason and a way to silence people, and silence only helps the perpetrator. We all know that. Does the training provide language, then, for teens to talk about abuse that they witness, either with their peers or with an adult, if they need to report it?
Speaker 3:Yes. So we utilize MVP Mentors in Violence Prevention curriculum for our bystander intervention trainings and it encourages the three Ds of bystander intervention. So if they're witnessing or experiencing these behaviors, one, they can be direct, so go up and say something to themselves hey, that's not OK, I don't like what's going on. If they're not comfortable doing that, they can distract, so change the subject or create a diversion away from the incident. They can delegate, so get help from a teacher, a group of peers, a coach or another trusted adult. So direct, delegate, distract. We also encourage them that following up the next day or checking in after the fact is still a form of stepping up and being an active bystander. Of course, when we discuss these strategies, we encourage them. We discuss these strategies, we encourage them make sure that they feel safe to be able to step in and if they don't feel like they can step in and remain safe. Delegation is probably the best option and talking to a trusted adult is probably the best next step.
Speaker 1:That's really good advice. For sure. It's great advice for even just for parents to give to their own children in lots of different, for lots of different reasons, not just teen dating violence. I know in some school districts they have an app where you can report things like bullying, and I'm curious if there is any type of companion app that you're aware of that works specifically for teen dating violence, or if teen dating violence can be reported even if it's just suspected can be reported through, like an app like Stop it, which is used for bullying.
Speaker 3:Right To my knowledge I don't know that there is a specific one specific to teen dating violence. There is another program or app similar to that out of Colorado, Safe to Tell. We have been told by school districts that we can provide the information that if they see teen dating violence, that can also be reported through that portal or that app. So it doesn't have to be specifically bullying that's occurring, they can report any kind of incident.
Speaker 1:That's really good to know, and I also know many school districts monitor any communications as well as websites and other links that students use on their district-approved technology device.
Speaker 1:So if your student has a Chromebook, let's say that they rent or lease from their school, and they type in abbreviations that are known in the database of what different terms mean. The communication will be flagged by the school and sent to the counselor, and then a parent will be notified and the student will be, you know, called for a discussion about whatever the communication is, and this could be. It doesn't have to be something violent, even related to teen dating violence. It could be something that causes concern for the student's well-being as well as you know the fact they could be being bullied or having a difficult experience at home, or it could be anything, and so I think that there are additional safety measures in place within a lot of school districts that are kind of monitoring what's going on, and I'm also surprised how astute many school officials really are about what is going on, like in the interaction, the social interaction and in the physical environment of the school. They're usually, in my experience, really on the pulse.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I definitely think districts are doing a lot of great work. Of course, there's always more work to be done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't do everything, and that's why we need things like Jana's campaign to help round out this. You unfortunately so many social issues that have to be discussed and educated.
Speaker 3:Young people need to be educated on so many social issues. One thing that we suggest to school districts that work with us is that they have a separate teen dating violence policy. So a majority of time these issues are snuck into the bullying, anti-bullying policy, and while that's you know good, we think that it can be better by having a totally separate policy. So one for anti-bullying, one for teen dating. Violence prevention and education.
Speaker 1:Smart, that's really smart. I'm going to go home and look up the teen dating violence policy for my local school district and I'm going to send you an email and let you know that I found it. Hopefully, when teenagers are spending large amounts of time in structured environments such as school or even sports, or maybe at home, what are some ways that the adults in their lives can prevent youth from entering in, embracing or engaging in a violent relationship?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's a great question because they're critical allies right to preventing these issues and we need adults to play the unique roles that they have to educate and model and intervene to these unfortunate situations. So teachers and school staff can integrate this education into their curriculums. We utilize a curriculum by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and that is Safe Dates. Safe Dates is the name of the curriculum. It's a wonderful curriculum that's easily implemented into classrooms. They can also create safe and supportive cultures within the classroom and then watch for the warning signs. So be educated on what are common warning signs, but also the effects. So maybe you have a high achieving student that's starting to disassociate a little bit in the classroom, not be as active as they once were, or their grades are dropping, and so just noticing those small types of behavior changes and knowing that they can reach out to them and offer support Because, like we discussed, students may be fearful to talk to a trusted adult because of the potential consequences that may occur Coaches and mentors, I think, can set expectations for respect and call out any kind of harmful behavior. We utilize two national programs from Futures Without Violence, Coaching Boys Into Men and Athletes as Leaders. Those are curriculums that are very easy to implement into sports and athletic programs, Healthcare providers can normalize conversations about relationships.
Speaker 3:So simply asking a question do you feel safe in your relationship? Of course, making sure they ask that when nobody else is in the room, to make sure that they feel comfortable and safe, and expressing if they do feel safe in their relationship, and then screen for different signs of abuse. And then parents and guardians again to that activity I referenced earlier. 88% of teens who have participated in that activity state that they believe teen dating violence is a problem for young people today, and this is a very outdated statistic. It's from 2004, so 21 years ago. But that research showed that 81% of parents that were surveyed either believe teen dating violence is not an issue or they admit that they don't know it's an issue. So there's a very strong disconnect between young people saying yes, this is a problem and their parents not being certain that it is. So we encourage parents and guardians to talk early and often have conversations about healthy and unhealthy relationships, consent, digital safety, and that should start at a young age and continue as they grow up.
Speaker 3:And then I also think, modeling respectful relationships, because we learn by watching others and how adults treat each other, Show mutual respect and conflict resolution, and I think it's also okay to say, yeah, I didn't handle that very well.
Speaker 3:Here's how I could have handled that situation better and being vulnerable with their young people. Stay involved as well. Don't just have a one-time conversation and then be done. I think that potentially closes the door, but if you continue the conversation, they will know that that door is always open and that they can come and talk to you to educate the community on these issues but also work to create an environment and a culture that says abuse and violence is not tolerated. You know that can be done through awareness campaigns, even parent education nights or different activities to connect youth with their trusted mentors in the community. But when adults are proactive and engaged, they can start to recognize those red flags and develop healthy relationship skills with young people. Teen Dating Balance isn't just about a one-time intervention. It's about educating and modeling and supporting at every stage of a young person's life.
Speaker 1:So much good advice today. Thank you so much. Katie for offering all of those ideas and all of that information to us. Where can people learn more about Jana's campaign?
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much for having me, and I appreciate the opportunity to share a little more about Jana and about our work. Information about Jana's campaign can be found at janascampaignorg. J-a-n-a-s campaignorg, and we also have social media accounts on Facebook, instagram and LinkedIn, so we share information regularly on those social media sites.
Speaker 1:Perfect, thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, stay safe. The 2025 Conference on Crimes Against Women will take place in Dallas, texas, may 19th through the 22nd at the Sheraton Dallas. Learn more and register at conferencecaworg and follow us on social media at National CCAW.