February certainly is a busy month. Groundhog’s Day yielded 6 more weeks of winter, Black History Month activities commence, and lovers grow anxious over the arrival of Valentine’s Day. To add to the excitement and bustle to the month of February, Riverside Brookfield social workers Christine Sutton and Mari Mortenson are on a mission to raise teen dating abuse awareness.
“I think this is a great opportunity for all students to evaluate relationships both past and present and to see how they were treated or how they treated a current or former boyfriend/girlfriend. Promoting healthy relationships is the bottom line and to know that if you need help there are many people in the building who can help you or a friend,” said Sutton.
Often times high school relationships lose sight of respecting one another and that can lead to unhappy endings. Excessive bothersome text messaging, not allowing for personal privacy, physical harm (slapping, thrashing, striking, etc), and heightened verbal disagreement are all signs that may lead to further teen dating abuse with much more severe consequences.
“If this type of behavior isn't addressed and dealt with at the time, like many situations, it can escalate because the victim is tolerating the disrespect and the abuser is receiving a message that they can ‘get way with it’ or that the girlfriend/boyfriend will not leave the relationship. If at anytime, you see or experience any type of abuse, you need to talk to your parents or another adult about what has happened. It is nothing to be ashamed or afraid of, the real fear comes when the abuse escalates and you ‘feel’ like you can't get out,” said Sutton.
Sutton and Mortenson have successfully created buzz around the school concerning teen dating abuse. The two prominent social workers reached out to the Sixth Man basketball student cheering section and recruited the energized group to help support the cause. On Tuesday, February 25 at 7:00 pm in a contest versus Brother Rice, the members of the Sixth Man are going to wear pink t-shirts with the slogan: “Real men wear pink and respect women”.
“The Sixth Man has a great reputation in the school not only for their ‘Duke-like’ spirit but representing the culture and climate at RB. We thought that it would be a great opportunity to demonstrate RB's solidarity on an issue as important as teen dating and what better group to deliver this message than the Sixth Man.
“In the majority of cases the male is the aggressor. The Sixth man can set the tone and expectations for the behavior we would like to see from our male students. Wearing a t-shirt that says, ‘Real men wear pink and respect women’, that’s a strong message to carry and one that by example many can follow,” Sutton stated.
The bottom line is that the way students respect one another directly reflects the social environment at Riverside Brookfield.
“I think we have a great high school with great students and we need everyone to feel welcomed and accepted. Respect is the underlying message for students to feel this way,” said Sutton.
--Submitted by Kieran Brennan, Sports Manager |
