For More Information Contact:

Mike McCarty

Director

P.O. Box 295

Danville, IN 46122

317-745-6946 voice

888-215-8296 toll free

317-745-6947 fax

Publictraining@aol.com

Preventing Youth

Dating Violence

Dating violence is simply a precursor to domestic violence.  The same abusive behaviors and dynamics.  Unfortunately, we usually do not recognize the signs and behaviors in the junior high and high schools.  Or if we do, we often label the behaviors as “just being boys” or “just being girls.”  To be effective, a youth dating violence program should define dating/domestic violence, explore the impact of witnessing domestic violence on children, understand stalking and bullying behavior, define abusive patterns of behaviors, explore the socialization process of young men and young women and implement proactive programs that educate young men and women and hold abusers accountable for their abusive behaviors.

Prevention programs for dating and domestic violence must challenge the process of socializing young boys and young girls.  The false expectations we place on young boys and young girls really sets them up for failure.  How often have we heard a father say to his young son, “quit crying.  Big boys don’t cry.  What are you a girl?”  The father is teaching the young son to be tough, swallow his feelings (even though crying is a normal chemical reaction to pain) and that being a girl is inferior to being a boy.

The complex issue of male violence is much more difficult than understanding that most abusers learned these behaviors from being raised in violent homes.  The way in which we socialize young men is important in understanding male violence.  There are so many thoughts and behaviors by non-abusive men that contribute to male violence.  We know from research that ninety-eight percent of convicted rapists in the United States are men.  We also know that ninety-five percent of domestic violence in the United States is perpetrated by men.    This is not male-bashing.  This is a call for real men to stand up, speak out and hold abusive men accountable.  Silence by men on the issue of violence against women is an act of permission for the abusive behaviors.  

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “prevent” as: “to keep from taking place, to ward off; to keep (someone) from acting.”     This should be the basic premise of any violence prevention program.  If violence is a learned behavior, then it can be unlearned.  Prevention is about changing directions, changing the way we think and the way we act.

P.T.I. used this definition to develop an intensive train-the-trainer curriculum and video:

Preventing Youth Dating Violence Train-the-Trainer Seminar

Preventing Youth Dating Violence Video Series