Wedding Planning – Relationships – Counseling

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A proposal to teach middle- and high-school students about healthy relationships is having difficulty gaining traction despite legislative and community support.

A new state law requires public school districts with students in Grades 7 through 12 to vote on whether to implement a curriculum about dating abuse and violence into their health courses.

While broadly supported by lawmakers and community groups, who say abusive relationships are a major problem for girls between the ages of 16 and 24, the measure has received lukewarm support from school districts.

Administrators say they support raising awareness of the issues, but don’t have the money to implement an unfunded program this year.

More than 17 percent of high school girls surveyed in Indiana last year — some as young as 14 — said they have been forced to have sex.

The finding gives Indiana the second-highest percentage, behind Wyoming, among the 42 states in the Centers for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance.

The survey did not deal with the context in which the rapes might have occurred or when they happened. But it found the percentage of Indiana high school girls who had experienced dating violence — who had been hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend in the previous 12 months — was higher than the U.S. average: 13.7 percent compared with 9.3 percent nationwide.

The Seattle Mariners have teamed up with the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence to compete for a Pepsi Refresh grant. Until August 17th, you can support their project, which focuses on the important job of teaching non-violence to young male athletes, by voting up to ten times per day. Please take the time to visit the site, learn more about the project and vote – we’d really appreciate it!

Also, keep an eye out for loveisrespect’s Pepsi Refresh project – coming in October. We’ll need your help too.