For Schools

Schools are an important resource for youth experiencing dating violence. Youth may confide in a classmate, teacher, coach, or school counselor. An incident of dating violence may occur on campus that threatens a student’s safety. Does your school staff know what to do if a student asks for help with an abusive relationship?

Schools play an important part in making sure youth get the help they need by educating their students and staff about dating violence. Safety on campus is critical to academic success. Many state legislatures have recognized the important role schools play in the lives of students by requiring written policies about dating and sexual violence. Break the Cycle is committed to providing schools the tools they need to implement effective prevention and intervention programs on campus.

The Safe Schools Project

Thanks to the leadership and support of the D.C. City Government Office of Victim Services, Break the Cycle and a coalition of partners, experts and stakeholders will help D.C. public schools develop a comprehensive response to teen dating violence. This response will include written school policies, educator and staff training, violence prevention curricula for students, and an expanded network of community services for youth.

Our partners in this project are the Teen Dating Violence Project of Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), the District of Columbia Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC), the Child and Adolescent Protection Center of the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) and the Medical University of South Carolina(MUSC).

We hope that the Safe Schools Project will inform positive changes to your school’s policies and responses to teen dating violence. Consider implementing these steps from the Safe Schools Project in your community:

1. Draft and Implement a Dating Violence Policy

Few schools have written policies that meet the needs of youth experiencing dating violence. A comprehensive policy should include specific guidelines for responding to complaints of dating violence, involvement of campus police and local law enforcement, services and accommodations for victims, appropriate consequences for abusive students, and referrals to community-based organizations.

2. Train School Personnel

An important part of implementing dating violence policies is ensuring that all school staff has the information, training and resources to respond to youth experiencing dating violence. Holding regular in-person training sessions for school personnel, including teachers, faculty, coaches, counselors and campus police, can ensure your school staff has the ability to appropriately respond to teen dating violence on campus.

3. Educate Students

Working with all students to prevent dating violence is a crucial step in creating a safe campus. Schools should implement classroom curriculum addressing issues such as dating violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, bullying, hate speech, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and trauma. Schools should also educate students about their rights to safety on campus, including what acts are prohibited, the complaint process, consequences for abusive students, and resources for victims.

Check back to this website for regular updates about this project and to download resources from the project that may benefit your community’s schools. If you want to consult with us on any of these issues, please contact us at expert@breakthecycle.org.