Posted by Elizabeth Schön Vainer, Director of Journey to Safety

Burgers cooking on a grill.

One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.

It's time to change this startling statistic.

Journey to Safety's TeenSafe program helps teens (as well as parents and adults who work or volunteer with teens) recognize controlling or abusive behaviors in intimate relationships. We are asking for your help in finding our next group of TeenSafe peer leaders.

What Do TeenSafe Peer Leaders Do?

TeenSafe peer leaders are in grades 10 - 12. Peer leaders begin in the fall by learning about healthy and unhealthy behaviors in an intimate relationship and exploring some of the ways an abusive partner might make controlling or coercive behavior sound vulnerable, kind, or loving.

As the peer leaders build their knowledge and skills around recognizing and responding to dating abuse, they also consider ways to raise awareness among their peers. Whether it's designing and implementing workshops or creating flyers and social media posts, they passionately and enthusiastically share the important information they have learned. TeenSafe satisfies many high schools' required community service hours.

As a domestic abuse program serving the Jewish community, we feel urgent in our goal to raise the visibility of this issue in our synagogues, havurot/minyanim, schools, youth groups, social groups, and other Jewish spaces. TeenSafe empowers and educates youth to lead our community in these efforts.

How to Get Involved with TeenSafe

Please help us spread the word by sending this flyer to any teens, parents, advisors, guidance counselors, or educators you think might be interested.

If you are interested in joining TeenSafe, please fill out this application. For more information, contact us at TeenSafe@jfcsboston.org or 781-647-5327.