“Students are learning to firmly let other students know just what is appropriate language and contact. Students are comfortable letting school site personnel know about inappropriate behavior as well. We appreciate FVLC for helping both create awareness and give our students the tools to advocate for themselves and others.”
Jaymie Lollie
Community Coordinator/Program Assistant
Frick Middle School, Oakland
Relationship Abuse Prevention (RAP) Program
FVLC’s Relationship Abuse Prevention (RAP) Program began working with teens in 1996 to raise awareness of relationship abuse. Through school-based campaigns and classroom education, the program encourages students to advocate for an end to dating and domestic violence. In 2005, we started year-long elective courses that help young people build leadership skills as they become powerful advocates for stopping domestic violence in their communities.
Since 1996, RAP has taught more than 12,000 Alameda County students, operating on the belief that violence can be prevented if youth are given the tools they need to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Start Strong Oakland
FVLC is recognized as a leader and innovator in addressing teen relationship abuse. One testament to our success came in 2008 when the Start Strong initiative selected FVLC as one of 11 sites nationwide to implement a program that promotes healthy relationships and addresses teen dating violence. The Start Strong initiative, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Blue Shield of California Foundation, has provided us a wonderful opportunity to expand our work and to share with groups around the country doing similar work.
Building on our work with high school students, Start Strong has enabled us to fund prevention efforts at four middle schools. It is critical that we reach students at a younger age, and through Start Strong we have been able to pilot a truly multi-faceted approach to ending teen dating violence. The initiative focuses on four interrelated strategies, all of which have shown significant progress:
- Educate and engage youth in schools and other settings: We have taught 464 middle school students during school hours and reached an additional 2,400 students through educational workshops, trainings, events and health fairs.
- Train and inform teen influencers such as parents, teachers and other mentors: We have taught 90 high school students to become peer mentors through intensive leadership classes and internships, and trained 121 teachers at the targeted middle schools.
- Change policy and environmental factors: We have worked with Oakland Unified School District on a comprehensive teen dating violence policy. Now we are working with individual middle schools to implement school-specific policies and protocols.
- Implement effective communications and social marketing strategies: We launched a social marking effort called the Jane Campaign that educates the public and encourages the creation and support of healthy relationships. To help spread the word, we have developed a website (www.myjane.org) and created a film in partnership with Youth Radio called “Taking Control.” The film stars some of our youth leaders who have done an outstanding job highlighting the complex issues related to teen dating violence.