Prevention Programs
Educating Teens About Relationships
Each year, our community education department team members visit dozens of schools, youth groups, clubs, and more to bring young people informative and interactive presentations, evidence-based curricula, group activities, and leadership camps.
We empower teens to prevent abuse and foster healthy relationships.
Primary Prevention Topics
Our teen programs not only address topics of abuse and unhealthy relationship but also healthy relationship skills and the importance of knowing oneself and boundaries.
We offer the following educational programming for schools and youth groups in our community. Programs can be combined into multiple sessions. If the topics listed here don’t quite match the information you want your teens to learn, we can put together a customized presentation for you. Email us at education@hdnbc.org.
Healthy Relationships
Respect and Equality
Knowing Oneself
Boundaries
Gender Stereotypes
Power and Control
Forms of Abuse
Digital and Tech Abuse
Gaslighting
Red Flags
Local Resources
Supporting Survivors
Teen Prevention Programs
Decide. Don't Slide.
Interactive Presentations
Understanding the Relationship Spectrum
In our Decide. Don’t Slide. program, we facilitate interactive discussions on the definition, dynamics, characteristics, and forms of abuse, abuser tactics, power and control, how to recognize abuse, and how to help oneself or others. This program includes discussions, video clips, games, and activities and can be facilitated with a small class, a combination of classes, or a grade-level assembly.
Audience: Appropriate for students in middle school, junior high, high school, college, or youth group.
Duration: One or two sessions. (60-90 minutes each)
In Their Shoes
Teens and Dating Violence
Participants become one of six characters based on the experiences of real teens including sexting, pregnancy, homophobia, and stalking. They make choices about their relationships and move through the scenario by reading about interactions with their dating partner, family, friends, counselors, police, and others.
The In Their Shoes resources and descriptions were provided by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence at wscadv.org.
Audience: Appropriate for students in middle school, junior high, high school, college, or youth group.
Duration: 1 to 1.5 hours
Expect Respect
Multi-Session Program for Middle Schoolers
An Intro to Respectful Relationships
Expect Respect is a safe environment for teens to learn the difference between healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships, from friendships to dating. Through four sessions divided by school age groups, teens can safely ask questions about appropriate relationships.
The goal of Expect Respect is to help teens develop healthy relationships and skills they can use to prevent future violence. Through a variety of activities, such as group discussions and reviewing modern media examples, the program also aims to help teens recognize and prevent abuse among their peers.
High school-aged teens will attend the four sessions in June, while middle school-aged teens will attend in July. While the curriculum is designed to be taken in full, teens can feel free to pop into age-appropriate sessions whenever they’re available.
Audience: Appropriate for students in middle school, junior high, high school, college, or youth group.
Duration: 1 to 1.5 hours
Topics Addressed:
- Know Yourself (It’s Important to Your Relationships)
- Characteristics of Healthy Relationships
- Setting Healthy Boundaries
- When to (and How to) Break Up
Safe Dates
Multi-session Program for High Schoolers
Holistic Teen Dating Abuse Prevention
Safe Dates is an evidence-based ten-session dating abuse prevention program to raise student awareness of what constitutes healthy and abusive dating relationships, as well as the causes and consequences of dating abuse. It’s been shown to change adolescent norms about dating violence and equip students with skills and resources to develop healthy dating relationships, positive communication, anger management, and conflict resolution. Safe Dates is effective in preventing and reducing violence perpetration among teens, and course attendance resulted in decreased acceptance of dating violence, stronger communication skills, stronger anger management skills, and greater awareness of community solutions.
Audience: appropriate for students in middle school, junior high, or high school.
Duration: four, six, or 10 sessions (50 minutes each).
Audience: Appropriate for students in middle school, junior high, high school, or college.
Request a Speaker
Our education specialists empower teens, educate adults, and train professionals to recognize and respond to domestic violence and teen dating abuse.
All of our presentations are free of charge to any group, school, or organization.
Are Texas schools required to teach students about dating abuse?
In December 2021, a law went into effect in Texas that requires schools to teach students about domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse, and human trafficking. The new law also requires parental opt-in (rather than opt-out) before students may participate. However, parental consent is not needed for information regarding general awareness and local resources.