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What Youth Can Do to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence
- Speak out against bullying and relationship violence at home and at school.
- Report all incidents of violence, including bullying and dating abuse, to school authorities, parents, or other responsible adults.
- Mentor younger students.
- Participate in organized and supervised recreation, educational, and cultural after-school programs.
- Talk to a responsible person – physician, teacher, counselor, clergy, parent, or friend – about violence you witness or experience.
- Act as a role model for other children and adolescents in refusing to have anything to do with violence, firearms, alcohol, and illicit drugs.
- Promote television programs, movies, music, and video games that portray nonviolent alternatives to conflict resolution.
- Become involved in violence prevention programs offered by the community, church, or school.
- Encourage friends who confide involvement with violence, or friends who seem depressed or angry, to seek help from a parent, physician, teacher, counselor, or member of the clergy.
- Talk with friends and family members about concerns about violence and its effects in their lives.
- Understand the warning signs of relationship violence, and be sure to get help for yourself or for a friend experiencing violence or at risk for experiencing violence.
- Seek opportunities for community service.
- Encourage your school, church, service or community organization to offer programming to educate youth about healthy relationship skills.
Excerpted from the Commission for the Prevention of Youth Violence. Youth and Violence: Medicine, Nursing and Public Health: Connecting the Dots to Prevent Violence. Chicago, IL : American Medical Association; 200:28.
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