Submitted by Maddie Folta
Prevail, Inc.
During the school year 2021-2022, Prevail partnered with local schools to bring Healthy Relationships programming into health classes in middle and high schools across Hamilton County.
This Healthy Relationships programming focuses on interactive learning experiences for students with learning objectives, including recognizing warning signs of abuse, identifying types of abuse, understanding consent and boundaries, and identifying what to do or how to help a friend, all implemented through a variety of activities adapted from the widely used evidence-based Safe Dates curriculum.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in 12 teens surveyed experienced physical and/or sexual violence (CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2019). Even more close to home is the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking findings that rank Indiana fourth in the United States for high school females who reported being physically forced to have sexual intercourse.
Prevail provides critical Healthy Relationships education through our Prevention Educators. Prevention Educators were able to interact with 5,838 total students in Hamilton County and visit 15 middle and high schools in the county. Results taken from Hamilton Southeastern Schools, Sheridan Middle and High School, and Hamilton Heights High School showed that students gained an 8 percent increase in knowledge from pre- to post-tests given during the programming. Additionally, Prevention Educators reported that 98 percent of those students surveyed indicated that they understand their role in violence prevention. Along with these efforts, Prevail has witnessed strong relationships start to form between health educators, with all educators requesting this program again in the future.
As Prevail plans to continue this partnership, there is hope for expansion allowing these efforts to reach more students in the county. Prevail believes that we all have a role to play in preventing violence and how better to spread this message than to start in schools with youth, the future leaders of our communities.
Along with its prevention efforts, Prevail also offers a variety of services to survivors of violence such as support groups, safety planning, and a 24/7 crisis hot line.
Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). A Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved May 11, 2022, from cdc.gov/violenceprevention/communicationresources/pub/technical-packages.html#technicalPackages
Statistics – ICESAHT these numbers are staggering. ICESAHT. (2020, October 22). Retrieved May 16, 2022, from icesaht.org/the-issue/statistics