By Shichen, YAAB Member We have all had bad days, whether it is at school, work or in a relationship and have all said or done things we later regret, but abuse is different than having a bad day; it is defined as a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and…
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We Have All Had Bad Days
The Importance of Educating Teens
February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, which calls for action in educating teens and adolescents on what healthy relationships are, as well as how to recognize and react to unhealthy relationships. According to a 2011 CDC nationwide survey, it was found that 23% of females and 14% of males who experienced rape, physical…
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Everything’s Different Now
I’ll never forget the phone call that Friday morning from my son. Now a freshman at the University of Maine, Josh was 16 at the time, still a junior in high school. “Dad, a girl was stabbed at school this morning.” Josh was calling me from home. Students had been dismissed from school early because…
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Be Mine
It snows often in Happy Valley. Rarely enough to amount to anything, but just enough to look pretty (and, sometimes, be annoying). My sophomore year at Penn State, however, St. Valentine gave us work-weary students a blessed gift: the one and only snow day I can remember during my four years of undergrad. Yes, classes…
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Your First Love
By glancing at the title, you might assume that this will be about someone’s first boyfriend or girlfriend. But I am talking about a different kind of love, a love that has been forgotten, or in some cases never known. I’m talking about a love that has increasingly lost its significance over time, yet, ironically,…
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Healthy vs. Unhealthy
Social media can be a very harmful place when it comes to controversial videos. One video in particular shows an 18 year-old girl, Romina Garcia, saying, ”If your boyfriend hits you or beats you up, stay with him. He loves you, because he’s risking for you to press charges on him, calling the police —…
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Why Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Matters
As a young teen in my first year of high school, there is a lot of ignorance that goes around that makes me really think… whether it’s overhearing a conversation or it’s happening right in front of my face. The topics range from silly confusion over the grade someone got on their math test to…
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Friendship
What is it like to have a friend? Some say the gift of friendship is the most valuable gift in the world. I believe this is true. True friends stick by you no matter what, in good times and in bad times. February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM) and despite how scary the…
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Take the Pledge!
Like many tough issues, dating violence isn’t something that people typically talk about. It’s just too heavy for daily conversation. Talk of dating violence among teenagers is limited to school assemblies and “Issue” YA books. It makes sense that a lot of us think that because it’s not talked about, it’s not really a common issue….
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