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| Expect Respect helps increase awareness of domestic violence |
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Program Coordinator Jennifer Sethman at booth where visitors decorated T-shirts to hang at the Clothesline event.
The Consortium offers Expect Respect in six school districts in partnership with Womansplace. The program helps teens recognize the signs of abusive behavior from dating partners and others and build healthy relationships.
Students from all of the districts decorated T-shirts to hang at the Clothesline project, one of the displays used during an October 10th event at The Waterfront in Homestead to bring attention to domestic violence. Some students from Gateway High School also volunteered at the event.
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Working on the T-shirts “gave us an opportunity to talk to students about where abusive behavior can lead,” said The Consortium’s Program Coordinator, Jennifer Sethman. “Helping teens recognize the symptoms of harmful relationships is the first step toward ending domestic violence.”
Clothesline projects are done nationally, usually to give victims a vehicle for coming to terms emotionally with the effects of abusive relationships. The Waterfront event also included activities, crafts and information, including pamphlets to help parents talk to their children about the dangers of teen dating violence and to help children understand that “Hands Are Not for Hurting.”
The six districts participating in Expect Respect are: Clairton City, Gateway, Elizabeth Forward, McKeesport Area, South Allegheny and West Mifflin Area.
“We’ve reached over 4,500 students during our first year,” Sethman said. “The program not only helps students strive for healthy relationships, it also gives them a chance to promote respectful behavior within their schools.” |
