The Family Place is hosting a teen dating violence and dating violence prevention presentation in DeSoto this Saturday. The month of February was declared by Congress for teen dating violence awareness in 2010.
The upcoming symposium will be more of a resource fair offering pamphlets, brochures and other information to teens and their parents, according to Head of Be Project Vanessa Baum. Some of the points of discussion include documenting and reporting abuse, how parents can build trust with teens and signs a parent’s child is acting abusively.
“They are collecting resources, whether that’s like brochures, pamphlets, swag, giveaways, anything that they can distribute,” Baum says.
The Family Place’s Be Project educates teens in schools and presentations on how to seek help and spot the signs of dating violence. Two out of three teens will not seek out help in a dating violence situation, and in Texas, 50% of teens are affected according to the Texas Council for Family Violence.
Photo courtesy of The Family Place
Be Project is a prevention program of The Family Place that formed in 1999. The program settled with its current name in 2014.
They also offer training and workshops for parents and others who work or are connected to teens.
“Anybody that is in the life of teenagers,” Baum says. “Whether it’s a parent organization, or a parent night, that school or an in service day for counselors, we are available to come and do trainings there as well on teen dating violence topics on red flags on digital abuse, on how to build stronger relationships with teenagers”
The Family Place is one of the first domestic violence shelters in Texas and is now the largest family violence shelter in the state.
The teen dating violence and prevention symposium will be from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. this Saturday at Black Box Theater, 211 E Pleasant Run Rd, DeSoto.
For more information or to learn about resources from Be Project, email Vanessa Baum at vrbaum@familyplace.org.
