EARLY YEARS: February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Through community and service-based education, high school senior Nayeli Taylor learns valuable life lessons every week through Family Service of Roanoke Valley’s Teen Outreach Program.

“We have already learned about the values, like having values and how to be in a healthy relationship and try to help our community,” says Taylor.

Navigating dating relationships is typically new for teenagers, with many not knowing what a healthy relationship is supposed to look like.

“A lot of the feedback we’ve gotten is that it’s not really talked about, what that looks like, what partner violence looks like in teen relationships,” says Megan Alpine, Youth Development Program Manager for Family Service of Roanoke Valley.

According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: One in four women first experienced intimate partner violence prior to the age of 18.

To help lower that number, TOP is making it a priority to help young people understand boundaries and have respect for themselves in their relationships.

“Relationships are hard. And to be able to have the knowledge of knowing what is healthy and safe, and when it is not. How do I exit that in a way that is healthy and safe for me?,” says Linda Hentschel, President and CEO of Family Service of Roanoke Valley.

“To help give them guidance where they can think about what feels healthy for them, and how they can set their own boundaries, so they can navigate adult relationships later on,” says Alpine.

For more information about National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention, click this link.