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Guidelines for Schools on Addressing Teen Dating Violence

Background

School districts in Massachusetts have taken a leadership role in addressing the issue of teen dating violence. Through the Teen Dating Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (TDVIP) of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, funds are provided to public middle schools and high schools across the Commonwealth to implement comprehensive dating violence prevention and intervention programs. In FY2000, 50 schools or school districts received TDVIP grants. Using a model emphasizing community collaboration, grant recipients provide teen dating violence prevention education and training opportunities, implement policies and procedures addressing all aspects of teen dating violence, and provide on-site support services to survivors and intervention services to adolescent perpetrators of dating violence.

On the 1997 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior survey (YRBS), 20% of high school girls and 7% of high school boys reported being physically or sexually hurt by a boyfriend or date (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 1998).

A survey published by the Massachusetts Department of Probation in 1994 stated that almost 60% of all restraining orders issued against teenagers in Massachusetts are concerning a dating relationship. The majority (87%%) of teenage batterers involved in dating violence are male. Although abuse occurs most often in a home, the location where physical abuse is most often reported is in the schools. Eighty-four percent of teen dating violence occurring at school involves some type of physical violence (Massachusetts Trial Court, 1994).

It is clear that dating violence is prevalent among adolescents, and that it can have severe and long-lasting social, psychological, and physical health repercussions for teen victims. There is a pressing need for prevention and intervention with adolescents, and adolescence is a critical time to do so. Because dating is relatively new to adolescents, they are less likely to be entrenched in patterns of behavior, and more open to changing attitudes and behaviors, giving educators a unique opportunity to provide preventive education around teen dating violence, and to offer safe intervention strategies within the school.

Definition of Teen Dating and Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a pattern of coercive control one person exercises over another. Domestic violence is the actual or threatened physical, sexual, psychological or economic abuse of an individual by someone with whom they have or have had an intimate relationship.

Teen dating violence mirrors adult domestic violence in terms of it existing on a continuum of controlling behaviors. These behaviors range from verbal and emotional abuse, to physical assault, to murder and rape. In addition, teen dating violence is seen by some as a stage in the intergenerational cycle of violence, linking witnessing or experiencing violence during childhood to perpetrating or experiencing intimate violence in adulthood.

Abusive teen dating relationships, similar to adult domestic violence, generally exhibit a pattern. The major elements are:

• violence that affects people from all socio-economic, racial, and ethnic groups;
• repeated violence that escalates;
• violence that increases in severity the longer the relationship continues;
• violence and abusive behaviors are interchanged with apologies and promises to change;
• increased danger for the victim when trying to terminate the relationship;
• occurrence in heterosexual and gay and lesbian relationships.

Teen dating violence happens within the context of adolescent development; therefore, certain developmental aspects characteristic of adolescence are affected, differentiating it from abuse in adult relationships. Characteristics specific to teen dating violence include:

• Teens lack experience with intimate relationships; those in abusive relationships often have difficulty in defining abuse as problematic.
• Incidents of the adolescent victim using physical violence toward her/his partner occur with more frequency than between adult victims toward adult perpetrators.
• Young people may perceive possessive jealousy and controlling behavior as loving devotion.
• Teens are reluctant to seek help from adults. They fear, rightly or wrongly, that if they tell someone about the abuse they will be seen as having done something wrong. They may also fear that newly won privileges of independence will be taken away.

Typically the teen victim is isolated from her/his peers because of the controlling behavior of her/his partner. The following developmental tasks are interrupted because of this isolation:

• achieving new and mature relationships with peers of both sexes;
• social role achievement;
• emotional independence;
• the ability to develop personal values and beliefs.

Develop a Comprehensive Response to Teen Dating Violence

Recommendations for Schools

To promote a safe school environment that is free of dating violence, a comprehensive school response is necessary. To assist schools in developing comprehensive responses to the issue of teen dating violence, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education offers the following recommendations. Understanding the laws is an important first step toward building a comprehensive response. Other components of this response should include:

1. Establishing an Advisory Board on Teen Dating Violence

   A task force of staff, parents, students, law enforcement and representatives from concerned community groups can examine all aspects of the school environment and develop specific policies and recommendations for promoting a positive, safe, bias-free and abuse-free environment. See Appendix A

2. Developing a Written School Policy

   Develop a written policy that clearly states that dating violence will not be tolerated. This policy should include clear guidelines for addressing alleged incidents of dating violence. These guidelines should include, but not be limited to:

   • defining teen dating violence;
   • identifying the range of abusive behaviors that constitute abuse in teen relationships;
   • addressing specific consequences for teen dating violence for the perpetrator;
   • addressing levels of intervention for those involved in dating violence, including both disciplinary actions and counseling services;
   • identifying who is responsible for overseeing prompt resolution of an incident;
   • identifying who needs to be notified;
   • providing a protocol for the school's response where an abuse prevention order is issued against one student, for the protection of another student. See Appendix A
3. Training for the School Community to Increase Awareness

Provide awareness training and education for the school community that would include defining the issue of teen dating violence, recognizing warning signs, identifying issues of confidentiality and safety, and appropriate school-based interventions. These trainings should be organized to reach all members of the school community including students, educators, administrators, custodial and food service staff, and parents. Ideally, these trainings would be facilitated by a school staff person and a representative from a community agency that services victims of intimate partner violence, such as a victim advocate. The following is recommended:

• Provide annual workshops for school administrators, teachers, health educators, school nurses and other staff. These workshops should include the opportunity for staff to address school incidents that they have heard about, observed, or participated in and discuss how to intervene in an appropriate and consistent way. In order to respect the privacy of students hypothetical facts or actual scenarios absent of identifying information should be used.
• Sponsor parent workshops twice a year. These parent awareness workshops should include an overview of the issue of teen dating violence, how to recognize the warning signs with your teen or pre-teen and what parents can do. Other strategies like cable access shows and written materials that are sent home with students, should be developed for reaching parents who do not regularly attend school events.
• Teach on-going curriculum or educational presentations to students on teen dating violence, sexual assault, and acquaintance rape prevention. This curriculum should have multiple sessions that include:
  1. defining abuse in teen dating relationships including rape;
  2. identifying societal expectations of males and females that support sexism and homophobia;
  3. examining the role of the media in supporting sex role stereotypes and how these stereotypes, if believed, are a set-up for abuse and violence in relationships;
  4. exploring how teens can help themselves or a friend and;
  5. defining healthy and respectful relationships.
In addition to curriculum sessions this education can be accomplished through peer training programs, special seminars, or theater presentations combined with discussion groups or workshops.
• Sponsor teacher workshops on gender bias in the classroom twice a year.
4. Develop Intervention, Resource and Referral Services

Develop safe and confidential intervention, resource, and referral services. These services should include:

• developing collaborations with local counseling and juvenile justice programs;
• working out consistent systems of communication and reporting with local district attorney's office and police departments;
• making connections with other community based resources and service providers;
• establishing support groups for teen victims;
• mandating intervention programs for young perpetrators;
• establishing high risk groups for potential perpetrators of dating and domestic violence. See Appendix B
It is important that school staff are knowledgeable about community resources and making appropriate referrals. For example, staff can help students and their parents understand their legal rights by supporting appropriate referrals to the court system.
5. Foster a School Climate that has Zero Tolerance for Dating Violence

Assist students in understanding the impact and legal consequences of their behavior. Any seemingly casual push, hit, shove, put down, or rumor can escalate and have lasting impact and consequences if it goes unchallenged. It is important that staff intervene appropriately whenever they witness acts of abusive behavior. School staff are required to comply with statutory reporting obligations for suspected physical abuse, and to report instances of criminal violations of existing restraining orders to local police. Students should be receiving consistent information explaining that abusive behavior is unacceptable and the legal issues involved. By communicating the legal consequences for abusive behavior, staff empower students to make choices about their behavior that will hopefully, keep them from involvement with the criminal justice system.

Subtle and not so subtle forms of sexism and gender bias can often be unintentional messages to students that gender based offensive behavior is permissible. These include sexist or abusive language or sexist graffiti on the walls, in curriculum materials or in displays that indicate sexual biases, or under-enrollment of females in certain courses.

Model respectful behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs: Staff, including sports coaches, are important role models for students, and students draw information about male/female interactions from witnessing staff behaviors and attitudes. Therefore, staff interaction with each other and with students can deliver strong messages, particularly, interactions of male staff with female staff model for students what is acceptable behavior. Staff need to model behaviors and attitudes that demonstrate respect and equality.

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