HEALTHY/UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS:
LESSON: Dating Violence
Show the Choose Respect video: Causing Pain: Real Stories of Dating Abuse and Violence.
After showing the video, encourage discussion with such questions as:
A DVD discussion guide package containing this video along with one for adults and other resource material is available from CDC
Celebrities live in a kind of fantasy world. There is a great deal that we don’t know about their real lives based on all the media hype surrounding them. Sometimes we are surprised to learn “the rest of the story” such as in the case of Rihanna and Chris Brown.
Have each student write a brief introductory piece to their group’s quiz explaining to other students why it’s so important that they recognize dating violence and its warning signs.
Be sure to include time at the end of the discussion to talk about advice to individuals that might be in unhealthy relationships, what friends can do to help and resources that are available in your community.
Assessment can be based on the quiz that each group creates along with the written piece that each student writes.
LESSON: Dating Violence
Overview
In our work with teens all across our state, we found that every group had great concerns about the topic of dating violence. This lesson is designed to create awareness about some of the issues the teens felt would be important and encourages the teacher and class to make use of the CDC’s excellent Choose Respect resource materials.
Dating Violence Facts from CDC’s Choose Respect initiative
In our work with teens all across our state, we found that every group had great concerns about the topic of dating violence. This lesson is designed to create awareness about some of the issues the teens felt would be important and encourages the teacher and class to make use of the CDC’s excellent Choose Respect resource materials.
Dating Violence Facts from CDC’s Choose Respect initiative
- About one in 11 teens reports being a victim of physical dating violence each year.
- About one in four teens reports verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual violence each year.
- About one in five high school girls has been physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.
Level:
High School
Objectives:
Time: 1 class period
Preparation and Materials:
Objectives:
- Create awareness about dating violence among teens
- Identify examples of physical and emotional abuse.
- Identify warning signs of dating violence.
Time: 1 class period
Preparation and Materials:
Procedures
Show the Choose Respect video: Causing Pain: Real Stories of Dating Abuse and Violence.
After showing the video, encourage discussion with such questions as:
- Why did the people shown in the video stay in the relationship?
- Do you remember how a perpetrator of violence reported feeling about the
situation?
- “You don’t realize it until you take some time and step back and look at it, ”one
of the girls said. What are some warning signs that some of the people in these
relationships experienced?
- Discuss emotional abuse and its impacts. Comment on the statement one girl
made: “if you’re mentally abused, that can shoot you down as much as a fist would.”
- What advice do the teens in this video offer?
A DVD discussion guide package containing this video along with one for adults and other resource material is available from CDC
Activity
Celebrities live in a kind of fantasy world. There is a great deal that we don’t know about their real lives based on all the media hype surrounding them. Sometimes we are surprised to learn “the rest of the story” such as in the case of Rihanna and Chris Brown.
- Use the CDC Choose Respect site as a guide in creating your quiz. See
Recognizing Dating Violence and Warning Signs and Excuses
- Use a multiple choice format.
- Develop items that include sample situations or scenarios that present a
couple with a challenging situation.
- Then offer 4-5 different ways that the couple could have resolved the
challenge.
- One of the options given should present either a sample of dating violence or a warning sign to watch out for. Try to include options that are realistic (that is, behaviors that you could really imagine happening or that you may have seen happen).
- Never include actual names of couples that might be involved if your situation is based on real life!
Have each student write a brief introductory piece to their group’s quiz explaining to other students why it’s so important that they recognize dating violence and its warning signs.
Be sure to include time at the end of the discussion to talk about advice to individuals that might be in unhealthy relationships, what friends can do to help and resources that are available in your community.
Assessment
Assessment can be based on the quiz that each group creates along with the written piece that each student writes.