Education and Training
It is important to include opportunities for staff training and prevention education in your policy so teachers know how to deal with complaints of dating violence and students are able to recognize the warning signs of an abusive relationship and seek help. The following is an example of the language about prevention and education from our Model Protocol:
Training:
Administrators and faculty shall complete 4 hours of training on sexual assault and teen dating violence every 2 years.
Training curriculum will be conducted by or in coordination with dating violence, domestic violence, and sexual assault victims’ advocates and organizations.
Recent faculty hires will receive training within their first year at the District, and then will be trained on a continuing basis every 2 years with faculty.
Education:
The District includes teen dating violence and healthy relationship education in the district health care curriculum. The District will work with local domestic violence organizations to develop and provide this curriculum to students.
All students in grades 7 through 12 will be educated on teen dating and sexual violence prevention for 3 hours every year.
Teen dating and sexual violence prevention education programs shall:
- Define dating violence or relationship violence as including physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional or psychological abuse,
- Identify power and control issues as they relate to teen dating violence,
- Expose beliefs and attitudes that blame victims of violence,
- Be culturally competent and accessible,
- Increase empathy for victims,
- Encourage bystander accountability and peer interventions,
- Encourage victims, bystanders, and offenders to seek help,
- Address gender role stereotypes,
- Challenge social norms that permit or support abuse,
- Promote individual and community activism,
- Support the development of pro-social conflict management skills that contribute to healthy relationships
To go from here