They are young. They are in love. They think they will be together forever. Statistics tell a different story. Dating violence for high school students is very real.
According to the National Institute of Justice, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative annual survey of youth in grades 9 to 12, found evidence of dating violence among teens. The study found that, of those students who dated someone in the last 12 months, approximately one in 10 reported being a victim of physical violence from a romantic partner during that year.
An Iowa woman is on a mission to change those statistics. Kristy Knapp, a prevention specialist with the Crisis Center & Women’s Shelter in Ottumwa, Iowa, received a $10,000 grant to stop teen dating violence. The grant, from Royal Neighbors of America’s Nation of Neighbors SM program, has enabled her to increase her outreach.
Schools, Knapp told Royal Neighbors of America, tend to avoid subject matters that are “intense” or “serious.” She said the grant enabled her to make posters that addressed teen dating violence prevention and “key messages” about healthy relationships. Those posters helped her to get into more schools to present programs about healthy relationships to help teens avoid the aftereffects of dating violence, like eating disorders, promiscuity, thoughts of suicide, and becoming domestic violence victims when they are adults.
Knapp also plans to produce a video on teen dating violence awareness and prevention. She will broadcast it on the Crisis Center’s website.
Learn more about Kristy Knapp’s crusade to stop teen dating violence here.
***Royal Neighbors of America is one of the largest women-led insurers, empowering women to meet the needs of their families with annuities and life insurance products.
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