NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - February marks National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and some Lowcountry organizations are working to educate and provide resources to young people across the Tri-County area about the issue.
Lowcountry Youth Services:
Lowcountry Youth Services is a nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and educate youth in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. Through their programming, they provide young kids with vital life skills and teach them problem solving techniques.
The Lowcountry Youth Services Executive Director ReZsaun Lewis says they host a "Let's Talk About It" series where they focus on topics that impact youth and teens. This month, they spent it talking about teen dating violence awareness.
"The goal is to make sure that these young people are aware that one in three young people are being impacted by dating violence. Just being able to recognize the signs of a healthy relationship, or an unhealthy relationship and what to do," Lewis says.
Lewis says they cover various topics within the issue such as recognizing the signs of a healthy versus unhealthy relationship partnering with My Sister's House, understanding the difference between dating violence and domestic violence, and learning how to advocate for friends if they are experiencing abuse.
"The way we see it is not necessarily that a kid comes up to us and says hey I'm hitting my girlfriend, but maybe a young man in our organization is way too aggressive when it comes to talking about girls and just getting them to understand hey buddy that's not the way we talk to young ladies, that's not the healthy way to do it," Lewis says. "Or a young lady is like, she'll say oh well you know me and my boyfriend play like this and we're like yeah that's probably not a good way to play with your boyfriend."
He says that social media plays a role in showcasing distorted versions of what a healthy relationship looks like to youth. Lewis emphasizes that having discussion about realistic scenarios, where the young people can ask questions, helps build trust between them and their mentors.
"So when you have the relationship with the kids and you deal with them on a day-to-day basis they have more faith in the fact that they can come to you as a safe place to have the conversations, so when something like a teen dating violence situation comes up, they are more like to speak to us," Lewis says. "What I'd tell parents or anyone that's operating in the youth development space is focus on the trust. Focus on building the relationship and then the kids will come."
Ilona King-Wilson serves as the Lowcountry Youth Services Program Director for their in-school programming for young girls called Girls on the Rise.
Female students experience higher rates of physical and sexual dating violence than male students, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
King-Wilson says in her groups they focus on educating young girls on the rights they have when it comes to their bodies and how to say "no."
"It's very important to prepare them and provide them with the resources because they're our future and we want these young women well equipped with tools to go out and be strong and independent and evolve," King-Wilson says.
Lowcountry Youth Services is hosting it's Let's Talk About It: Teen Dating Violence event on Feb 22 from noon to 2 p.m. You can find more details here.
Lewis says that anyone who is looking to learn more about teen dating violence, they can also visit here.
My Sister's House:
Another Lowcountry non-profit, My Sister's House, is committed to breaking the cycle of domestic violence by providing support and services to people in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties.
The director of operations for My Sister's House Mary Elizabeth Garner says for teens the biggest focus is teaching them what domestic violence means.
"To be able to recognize, what is considered domestic violence? And what are the characteristics of a healthy relationship versus an unhealthy relationship? Having that awareness, being able to create spaces where they can talk about it, to process those things, to have people who are safe to go to if they have concerns," Garner says.
Garner says that oftentimes domestic violence is only considered physical abuse, but they have seen in many cases that it is preceded by emotional, psychological, and even technological abuse.
"We are seeing an uptick generally across the board in emotional abuse and technological abuse and I think that's probably something that our kids are experiencing and we as adults and parents in this technological age also have to verse ourselves on what that looks like in the science of that," Garner says.
She says some signs to look out for in teens include isolation, always on their phone or a fear of separation from their phone, as well as a change in friend group with no obvious or good reason why.
"Noticing changes in behavior, specifically those that are where a teen may be pulling away from what you know as a parent to be good or healthy or stable for them, those are things to start looking for," Garner says. "That's the key right? Is that physical abuse is often preceded by these types of abuse where you're not in person together?"
Garner says that My Sister's House engages with younger people in the Lowcountry through different partnerships with organizations and schools.
"The group that we don't want to enter it are children. It's very well known that children who experience abuse or who are witnesses of abuse in their childhood are often later abused or the perpetrator," Garner says. "Being educated and knowledgeable around what abuse is, how to prevent it, how to leave it, how to instill healthy relationship habits in children is the number one element that will break that cycle of abuse."