---
title: "Teen Dating Violence Program"
type: "pdf"
year: "2003"
canonical: "/projects/762"
---

# Massachusetts State Police Domestic Violence Prevention Unit 

# Table of Contents

- [Massachusetts State Police Domestic Violence Prevention Unit](#massachusetts-state-police-domestic-violence-prevention-unit)
  - [Teen Dating Violence Program](#teen-dating-violence-program)
- [Massachusetts State Police-Teen Dating Violence Summary](#massachusetts-state-police-teen-dating-violence-summary)
- [Addressing Teen Dating Violence: Description](#addressing-teen-dating-violence-description)
- [Pre and Post Test Results](#pre-and-post-test-results)
  - [Profile](#profile)
  - [State Troopers Talk Prevention](#state-troopers-talk-prevention)
- [Troopers teach eighth graders about dating violence](#troopers-teach-eighth-graders-about-dating-violence)
- [Teens receive guidance on dating](#teens-receive-guidance-on-dating)
  - [Third in lecture series tackles student relationship issues](#third-in-lecture-series-tackles-student-relationship-issues)
- [A 'reality check' on dating abuse](#a-reality-check-on-dating-abuse)
  - [State trooper tells students how to avoid being victims](#state-trooper-tells-students-how-to-avoid-being-victims)
- [teen-age dating of abuse](#teen-age-dating-of-abuse)
  - [State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence](#state-police-go-into-schools-to-talk-about-teen-age-dating-violence)
  - [Prevention is the ultimate goal](#prevention-is-the-ultimate-goal)
  - [State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence](#state-police-go-into-schools-to-talk-about-teen-age-dating-violence)
  - [State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence](#state-police-go-into-schools-to-talk-about-teen-age-dating-violence)
  - [State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence](#state-police-go-into-schools-to-talk-about-teen-age-dating-violence)
  - [A33](#a33)

## Teen Dating Violence Program

Submission for the Hermann Goldstein Award June, 2003

![img-0.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/03-23/img-0.jpeg)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of State Police
Office of the Superintendent
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, Massachusetts 01702
Telephone (508) 820-2300

May 30, 2003

Hermann Goldstein Award Panel
Police Executive Research Forum
1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 930
Washington, DC 20036

Dear Awards Panel Members,

I would like to submit the Massachusetts State Police Domestic Violence Prevention Unit's (MSPDVPU) Teen Dating Violence Program for the Hermann Goldstein Award. The unit has worked closely with the Massachusetts Department of Education, local school districts, domestic violence groups and related agencies to develop and implement a curriculum aimed at 6th through 12th grade students.

The four-officer unit now serves over 16,000 students a year, providing information on recognition of dating violence signs, peer support and intervention when necessary. The following pages detail the program, its results and future.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Foley

Thomas J. Foley, Colonel
Superintendent
Massachusetts State Police

*Excellence In Service Through Quality Policing*

# Massachusetts State Police-Teen Dating Violence Summary 

During the past decade, the Massachusetts State Police Domestic Violence Prevention Unit (MSPDVPU) has been dedicated to increasing awareness around the issue of teen dating violence. Initially, the unit was formed in response to an epidemic of domestic violence deaths in the Commonwealth. Members of the unit interviewed local agencies charged with providing outreach victim services, shelter professionals, local court and municipal officials and other involved groups. The results of these interviews showed that while adult victims received services, compensation and shelter, there were no programs aimed at education to prevent domestic violence from occurring in the first place and worse, no education targeting youthful victims. Statistics show that domestic violence begins at an early age. Women age sixteen to twenty-four experience the highest per capita rates of intimate partner violence '. Worse, statistics show that children under the age of twelve reside in $43 \%$ of the households where domestic violence occurs. ${ }^{\star}$

A curriculum was developed by Carole Sousa, Ted German and Lundy Bancroft for Transition House, a domestic violence shelter in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was certified by the Massachusetts Department of Education to enhance its integration into the school systems. The curriculum is divided into two components-one; a Train-theTrainer segment developed to educating police officers and teachers and the second; aimed at creating a safe and open dialog about the subject for youth in grades six through twelve.

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{1}$ United States. Department of Justice, Bureau of Violence by Intimates. Washington: 1998

Unit members now serve over 16,000 students a year in several different school systems throughout the state. Not only is the unit responsible for the presentation pieces but, because they are Troopers, are also able to intervene when students disclose dating violence, making referrals to proper investigative sections, both within the agency and without and other agencies that provide assistance to victims. This advocacy is important. Many times, rape, sexual assault and other dating violence go unreported. In 1993, $52 \%$ of women and $53 \%$ of men did not report intimate partner violence to police ${ }^{3}$. Creating open dialog and 'safe space' around the contributing social attitudes of this crime and the law at age appropriate educational levels increases awareness around the issue of dating violence. This awareness has resulted in an increase in numbers of teen restraining orders, court programs for teen dating violence offenders and expanded services for teen victims. We believe that if teens are not taught the words to cry out with, then their voices will never be heard.

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{2}$ United States. Department of Justice, Bureau of Violence by Intimates. Washington: 1998
    ${ }^{3}$ United States. Department of Justice, Bureau of Violence by Intimates, Washington; 2000, revised 2002

# Addressing Teen Dating Violence: Description 

In 1993 then-Governor of Massachusetts, William Weld, announced a state of emergency around domestic violence in the Commonwealth. Deaths from domestic violence had been on the increase and several very public domestic homicides brought the issue to the forefront. As a state agency, the Department of State Police was tasked with providing a response to new laws enacted by the Commonwealth to combat domestic violence. The State Police complied with the initiative by forming a Domestic Violence Prevention Unit (MSPDVPU). The unit was initially charged with identifying how their services could best deal with the problem of domestic violence. Services for adult victims and limited services for adult perpetrators were available from the shelter network and through the court system. The new laws had been written to include teen victims of dating violence, yet there was little available education for victims, perpetrators, police officers and even teachers. Statistics show that domestic violence begins at an early age. Women age sixteen to twenty-four experience the highest per capita rates of intimate partner violence '. According to the Registry of Civil Restraining Orders, an estimated 43,000 children a year in Massachusetts are exposed to reported acts of abuse and violence between family members. ${ }^{2}$ Additionally, $60 \%$ of clients in certified Batterers Intervention Programs are between the ages of 21 and $35 .{ }^{3}$ Having spoken with victims, domestic violence shelter professionals and a wide range of other service providers, unit members determined that education targeting youth was the key to raising awareness around domestic violence.

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{1}$ United States. Department of Justice, Bureau of Violence by Intimates. Washington: 1998
    ${ }^{2}$ Adams, Sandra (1995). The Tragedies of Domestic Violence: A qualitative analysis of civil restraining order in Massachusetts. Boston, MA: Office of the Commissioner of Probation.

Using the concepts of prevention and early intervention, the unit set out to gain the trust of school departments and access to their students throughout the Commonwealth.

Each member of the unit has attended a forty-hour course on domestic violence presented by staff from the Transition House, additionally all members are certified Rape Investigators. All have also received training in Community Policing and work under the Commanding Officer of the Community Services Section-the section that oversees COPS programs for the Department of State Police.

Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behaviors used by one partner to gain control and domination in a relationship. When physical and sexual violence are involved with this pattern, it is against the law. Domestic violence happens to anyone and crosses all socio-economic lines. When the MSPDVPU set out to respond to the problem of teen dating violence, they considered reaching out through existing domestic violence agencies. These agencies were responsible for a multiple-service domestic violence approach. None of the agencies specifically targeted youth or prevention through education. A curriculum was developed by Carole Sousa, Ted German and Lundy Bancroft for Transition House, a domestic violence shelter in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The curriculum is divided into two components-one; a Train-the-Trainer segment developed to educating police officers and teachers and the second; aimed at creating a safe and open dialog about the subject for youth in grades six through twelve. It was

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{3}$ Rothman, Emily (2000). (Analysis of preliminary 2000data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Batterer Intervention Program). Unpublished raw data.

certified by the Massachusetts Department of Education, making it more legitimate to educators throughout the state.

Grades six through twelve are the target population for the curriculum, notwithstanding that some of the curriculum pieces can be adjusted for younger students and older teens. The curriculum consists of three main lessons. The first session is about identifying abusive and respectful behavior. Session two gives students the chance to challenge sex role stereotypes as portrayed in the media and its relationship to dating violence. The third session speaks to recognizing warning signs and ties them to actual survivor presentations or films around dating violence and how to get help and help a friend. Other pieces of the curriculum, materials and classroom resources are limited only by the imagination of the presenter.

The MSPDVPU then faced the challenge of sharing the curriculum with schools. Members of the unit contacted Health Department Heads at schools throughout the state and worked hard to integrate the program into their health education programs. Unit members now serve over 16,000 students a year in several different schools throughout the state. Not only is the unit responsible for the presentation pieces but, because they are Troopers, are also able to intervene when students disclose incidents of dating and domestic violence. This advocacy piece is important. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, only one quarter of all physical assaults perpetrated against a female by an intimate are reported. ${ }^{4}$ Creating open dialog and 'safe space'

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{4}$ United States. National Institute for Justice, Centers for Disease Control. "Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence". Washington: 2000

around the contributing social attitudes of this crime and the law at age-appropriate educational levels increases awareness around the issue of dating violence. "Thirty percent of teenage girls know another teen who has been physically abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend."5 The presentations provide students with the tools to point their peers, who may be victims, in the right direction for reporting crime or requesting services. Despite the brevity of the program, students are given the opportunity to approach the instructor-Trooper privately and many have. Troopers have been able to advocate for student victims, initiating investigations by contacting the appropriate Detective Units or local Police Departments, helping with restraining orders, contacting appropriate intervention agencies both public and private and, most importantly, providing the victim with recognition and legitimatization of the crime. With access to schools in place, the MSPDVPU follows through by presenting the curriculum annually in the same school systems. The unit also continues to embrace new school systems.
"The Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MYRBS) is conducted every two years by the Massachusetts Department of Education with funding from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The survey monitors behaviors of high school students that are related to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults in the United States. All students in grades nine through twelve, including Special Education (SPED) students and students with limited English

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{5}$ Family Violence Prevention Fund. Teen Dating Violence. Citing Liz Claibome Inc. Study. Speaking Up 7(4). San Francisco: February 10, 2001.

proficiency, were given an equal probability of being selected". ${ }^{6}$ In 1997, teen dating violence was finally measured.

Between 1997 and 2001, the last year the survey was performed, the number of students who had some time been hurt, physically or sexually assaulted by someone they were dated dropped from $14 \%$ to $11 \%{ }^{7}$. While the MSPDVPU program is only one piece of the solution, we feel that it is an effective and efficient way to both prevent and respond to the problems of dating violence. The MSPDVPU also conducts a pre and post-test to measure both the students' initial awareness of domestic violence and their awareness after the course (see Table). Between 1998 and 2002, the amount of students who scored 100 on the pre-test was $46.4 \%$. By 2002, that number had risen to $60.6 \%$. This significant rise is attributable to the integration of the course as a regular part of the school curriculum and an overall increase in public awareness. In 1997, only $78.5 \%$ of the students correctly answered the post-test, while in 2002,100\% correctly answered the post-test. Again, we attribute this significant rise both to the inclusion of the course in the school's curriculum over the long-term and the general rise in public awareness concerning domestic and dating violence.

[^0]
[^0]:    ${ }^{6}$ Massachusetts Department of Education. 2001 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Boston, MA 2002
    ${ }^{7}$ Massachusetts Department of Education. 1997 and 2001 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Boston, MA $1997 \& 2001$

# Pre and Post Test Results

![img-1.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/03-23/img-1.jpeg)

## Profile

## State Troopers Talk Prevention

In November 1993. State Police Colonel Charles Henderson created the Domestic Violence Prevention Section a full-time unit endorsed by Thomas Rapone, Secretary of Public Safety. The unit focuses on community and police education, is a resource for prosecutors and victims, and is an especially important presence in those parts of the state that have no local police force. Lt. Colonel William Kelley oversees the three-person unit, consisting of Troopers Linda Orlando, Marie Kenny and Julia Mosely. Tpr. Orlando is the officer in charge.

An eleven-year veteran of police work, Orlando holds a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh, and a master's degree in criminal justice from Anna Maria College. Before becoming a police officer, Tpr Orlando was a social worker specializing in family services. As an officer, she has worked as a rape investigator and in public relations.

Tpr. Marie Kenny joined the State Police in 1988. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology from Holy Cross College and a master's degree in criminal justice from Anna Maria College. Before joining the State Police, Kenny was a hot-line counselor at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center for two years.

As a trooper, she has investigated domestic violence cases for the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office. Tpr. Kenny also instructed the most recent State Police recruit class in domestic violence investigations, and teaches rape, child abuse and domestic violence investigation to veteran police officers.

Tpr. Julia Mosely has been a police officer since 1981, and holds a bachelor's degree in law enforcement from Western New England College. Like the other unit members, Tpr. Mosely is a certified rape investigator. She has been active with the MDC and State Police Employees' Assistance and Crisis Investigation units since 1984.

Unit members attend the Governor's Commission meetings, where they work with FORUM staff and on the Subcommittee for Uniform Enforcement. Recently, they updated training standards and curricula for police officers, modified a checklist for officers investigating domestic violence cases, and proposed a standard police report form.
![img-2.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/03-23/img-2.jpeg)

Tpr Mosely teaching violence prevention at the Taft Middle School in Brighton.

In June 1993, troopers were trained in a new Preventing Teen Dating Violence curriculum, co-sponsored by the Dating Violence Intervention Project and the Criminal Justice Training Council. Since January 1994, the unit has presented this curriculum in a dozen school systems, and has a full schedule through May. In addition to this three-session program for middle and high school students, the unit has made presentations on child abuse prevention domestic and dating violence and sexual assault to teachers' groups, counselors, parents' groups and other professionals. The unit encourages participation by leading small groups of twenty-five to thirty.

Overall, response to the program has been very enthusias tic. Attendees at Tpr. Kenny's teacher workshops frequently ask her to return and teach the curriculum on dating violence to their students. Some students' responses, however, reveal how important awareness and prevention programs are. Once Tprs. Mosely and Orlando were finishing the first session of a high school presentation, helping students identify abusive and respectful behaviors. The girls summed up their feelings by asking the boys to treat them with the same respect they showed their mothers. One agitated boy jumped to his feet demanding, "Then why don't you show us the same respect you do your fathers? We're the men! We're in charge!" This provided the perfect segue into the second session, which dealt with gender role stereotypes and how they can lead to an environment in which violence against women is tacitly condoned.

Tpr. Kenny also reports positive feedback from police officer trainings. Many officers say that they are better prepared to handle domestic violence calls because they have learnt about the dynamics of abuse. The unit members also inform officers of recent developments in the law and prosecution techniques.

The members of the Domestic Violence Prevention unit are available to speak in any community, and are happy to tailor their program to audience needs. For information call Trooper Marie Kenny at (508) 820-2663; Trooper Linda Orlando at (508) 820-2664, and Trooper Julia Mosely at (508) 820-2665.

# Troopers teach eighth graders about dating violence 

BY HUGH MAGUIRE Special to the Journal

How do you want to be treated? State trooper Julia Mosely asked this simple question of 23 eighth graders at the East Somerville Community School recently, as part of a pilot education program on domestic violence prevention begun last month by the Massachusetts State Police.

Mosely was joined by trooper Marie Kenny in a 40 -minute classroom discussion based on recognizing what sexual harassment and abuse are.

Teacher Joan Stankus of the home economics department invited the troopers to speak with students in her practical arts course, which provides drug and alcohol education and also teaches human growth and development.

Mosely and Kenny are two of three state troopers assigned to the Domestic Violence Intervention and Prevention Unit, recently formed to work with the state Department of Education, to provide community education about domestic violence. They teach students at middle schools and high schools how to recognize abuse, how to respond to it, and the way to overcome problems non-violently.

The unit focuses on teen dating violence, with a three-session curriculum written by the Dating

Violence Intervention Project in Cambridge.

This was the first of three sessions, and it concentrated on encouraging students to identify behaviors that are abusive, and those that are respectful.

The students were divided into two sections - boys and girls. Each trooper asked a section for examples of abusive behavior. They were written down on a chart under categories such as physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.

Officers emphasized that every student sfoould respect each other's example of abusive behavior. When completed, the boys and girls compared each other's charts, and found more in common than not.

Mosely and Kenny then passed out a hallway survey and asked the students to check off how many times they witnessed abuse in the school hallways for the next week, especially between boys and girls.

A relationship contract was also passed out, which is designed "to help you know better what you want in your close relationships."

The first session quickly ended, leaving the impression that the ancient Scripture saying summed up perfectly what the class had been about: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

# Teens receive guidance on dating 

## Third in lecture series tackles student relationship issues

By Timothy J. LavaBee STAFF WRITER

Love is said to be blind and that may be why teens sometimes stay in abusive or controlling relationships. -Stoughton Police and State Police, working with Stoughton High School, hope to show teens there are ways to get out of bad relationships. Stygyhton DARE Officer Roger Hardy and State Police Trooper Suzanne Klane spoke to mostly freshman at Stoughton High School last week in the third in series of lectures about dating.
Using a video to demonstrate some of the symptoms of a bad relationship, Hardy and Klane told the students there are four kinds of abuse: verbal, mental, physical and sexual. The abuse can be hard to notice unless the youths know what to look for. Some symptoms of abuse can be mistaken for other powerful emotions or rationalized as a normal part of the relationship.
"A lot of girls feel, 'Wow he is so jealous that means he really cares about me," Klane said. The reality is jealousy is a sign of control and may lead to abuse. At the beginning of the video, the boyfriend was jealous his girlfriend wanted to spend time at a
party without him.
"You're going to see their relationship go from bad to worse," Klane said. "You're not going to see the early part of the relationship where he was wining and dining her."
The problems progress almost immediately in the video where the boyfriend removes the girlfriend from the party and screams at her outside. Eventually, the abuse escalates to the point the girlfriend is put in the hospital.
"They stay because they think it's their fault," Klane said. Abuse victims tend to find reasons in their own behavior for the abuser's reaction. "Remember, the victim is never to blame."
The girlfriend joins a support group when she gets out of the hospital and breaks up with the boyfriend.
"Breaking up is the most dangerous point in time in a violent relationship," Klane said. "Statistically, it takes about five attempts to get out."
A handful of kids who stuck around after class said they knew what they could do to help friends if they are in abusive relationships.
"I think it's going to tell people what's wrong to do," Sarah Ames, a

15 -year-old sophomore said. "I usually help my friends."
This is the fourth year of the program that started as the result of Stoughton High School Health Coordinator AnnMarie Leonard search for such a program. It fell into her lap when Klane, a specially trained domestic violence trooper, sent a letter looking to bring the curriculum to local school districts. Leonard jumped on the chance and asked if the Stoughton Police could assist.
"I just think it was important to have our local police involved with the kids in a different way," she said. She has family in the Stoughton Police Department. "It was so important to have a good rapport with the kids; to have a different rapport."
Over the course of the four years, Leonard said she notices a change in the temperament of the student body.
"I don't hear the foul language you heard so often before," she said. "The preventative end of it is starting to come through. The kids actually know where they can go for help. They know where they can go so the can displace their anger."

# A 'reality check' on dating abuse 

## State trooper tells students how to avoid being victims

By Erin Lee MartinThe Patriot LedgerWEYMOUTH - Stephen and Anna are always together: holding hands in the hallway, kissing in the parking lot, sharing the same cup at the weekend bush.

Their high school friends call them the perfect couple. State Trooper Julia C. Mosely knows better.
"Pay attention when your friends and family say they never are you anymore," Mosely told one Weymouth High School class last week. "That should be a reality check telling you that maybe something is not right in this relationship."
Mosely, a native of South Weymouth who now lives in Randolph, is carrying a message about dating violence and sexual harassment into classrooms across town this year.
"Even if things aren't physical, and it doesn't get bloody, it doesn't mean it's not abuse," she told one high school class last week. "Remember, there are things you can do to stop it."
The member of the State Police's Domestic Violence Prevention Unit spent the last three weeks talking with 10th-graders at Weymouth

High School/Vocational Technical School, visiting each class three times to talk about teen violence and ways to fight it.
Next month she will meet with seventh-graders at South and East Intermediate schools. In January, she'll lecture ninth-graders at Weymouth Junior High.
It's all part of the school department's year-old campaign to cut down on abusive behavior among teenagers, said Ellie Malick, the department's human resources facilitator and architect of the program.
"We're trying to teach kids that even if you may be a target, you don't have to be a victim," she said.
Mosely's straightforward but compassionate discussions - complete with informational videos, handouts and homework - are designed to make students more aware of the symptoms of violence, and more comfortable reaching out to police officers and other adults for help.
"It's sad in a way that a lot of this information has to come from the school, but they have to get it somewhere," Mosely said in an interview.
"I wish every kid could talk to
![img-3.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/03-23/img-3.jpeg)

Trooper Julia C. Mosely of the State Police Domestic Violence Unit talks to students at Weymouth High
School about dating violence and sexual harassment.
In the videotaped story of Stephen and Anna, Stephen refuses to meet Anna at lunch time but gets angry when she arrives 20 minutes late to meet him after school. Stephen shoves Anna and walks off while she cries her apologies.
Mosely flipped off the tape. "It's
about control," she said. "What was more important to him, having her there when he wanted her to be there, or spending time with her?"
Students say the message is getting through.
"You don't talk about it too much but this stuff definitely happens,"

Kelly Ryan, 15, said after her English class met with Mosely last week. "Now we have to think about it more."
Christina Neola, 15, said she was especially surprised by an exercise in which girls and boys gathered in opposite ends of the classroom and made lists of behaviors they considered abusive.
"The guys came up with more than we did," she said.
If someone is being hurt - by name-calling, unfounded rumors or physical threats - Mosely urged students to seek any of the 11 high school teachers trained by the state to help.
Those names, including four men and seven women, will be posted in every high school classroom this week, along with a state map detailing the location of shelters for battered women and an abuse hot line run by DOVE of Quincy - 773. HURT.

Para Canty, 16, said she and her friends appreciate that information.
"Some people are shy and they don't want to talk about what's happening," she said.
"You don't really think about it when it's happening until it's too late."

![img-4.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/03-23/img-4.jpeg)

State Police trooper Julia Moseley talks to Norton High School students about how to avoid teen-age dating violence and abuse.

# teen-age dating of abuse

By Thomas Grills

**OFFICIAL TO THE GUIDE**

NORTHS - Julia Moseley treated her Miss State Police uniform, riding boots and cruiser in favor of civilian apparel and an unmarked car for her classroom discussion of teen-age dating violence.

"Students are a lot less inhibited when I'm not wearing my weapon," she said.

Moseley is part of the Domestic Violence Prevention unit organized last year by the Massachusetts State Police to combat domestic abuse among teen-agers. The three members of the unit visit schools, when invited, to give three 40-minute lessons in how young people can avoid abusive relationships.

**TROOPERS, Page A33**

## State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence

**TROOPERS**

**Continued from Page A31**

Moseley recently spent three mornings with John Hickey's "South. Values and Current Events" class at Norton High School. She began the sessions by asking students to describe "abusive" dating behavior, which, she tells students, falls into three categories: physical, verbal, and emotional.

The answers came swiftly:

- "Motivating and sexual harassment," said one student.
- "Hustle and put-down," said another.

Within minutes, the students' list contained all forms of hostile behavior: possessiveness, chauvinism, pushing, chasing, threats, strangling, fending, and mind control.

In contrast, ideas for a second list on how respect is demonstrated between young people brought blank expressions from the attractive group. After some prodding by Moseley who asked, "When do you feel respected in a dating relationship?" a few hands went up.

"I feel respected when a boy is loyal and honest," said Rebecca Ennoud.

Katie Weisman agreed and said, "When a boy listens to your opinion and doesn't automatically say it's wrong."

Despite these responses, the list for words to describe respectful behavior was short. Moseley wasn't surprised, however.

"Making eye contact, talking calmly and listening to the other's ideas aren't as action oriented," she said. Still, she said, the morning's mission had been met.

"We're here to heighten awareness," she said, "and to get them thinking about such questions as 'What do I expect from someone else?' 'How do I recognize what I like and don't like?'"

Moseley insists the temptation to admonish and lecture. Instead, she allows students to guide the discussion.

Team member and fellow trooper Linda Orlando said the unit is an outgrowth of a training program by the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council that touches volunteers and has endorsement officers strategize to prevent teen-age dating violence.

So far, Orlando said, the program has reached more than 2,000 students in grades 5-12 in her dozen schools.

"We need to teach girls and boys to identify what's not acceptable in a relationship," said Trooper Marie Kenny, the third member of the team.

Kenny is a former Norfolk County rape investigator who joined the Domestic Violence Prevention unit after seeing hundreds of cases where teen-age girls were beaten, raped, and stalked by boyfriends.

"I realized that even if I worked 90 hours a week, I couldn't slow down the number of people coming through the door," she said. "I can have more of an impact if I reach zero before they get involved in a dangerous relationship."

Prevention is the ultimate goal, she said, "and schools are where we need to be to make a difference." Team members also give students a list of cases that 21 organizations use for state, that can help them deal with dating violence.

On the second morning in Norton, Moseley used magazine advertisements to illustrate how media images, food stereotypes, and school women as submissive and seen as in control.

Student David Falscher saw the absurdity in at least one presenter at.

"That woman hardly has any clothes on and she's selling candy," he exclaimed.

"Sex sells," said Holly Quaglia.

The classroom represents the spectrum of views in the adult world, said Moseley.

"We see the same attitudes and myths that are perpetrated from one generation to another," she said.

Orlando said it is essential to teach kids how to make informed decisions.

"That's a process that has to be learned," she said. "Students are defining their positions on some of those issues, and they may have never explored differences of abuse and respect."

Kenny knows that there, if there are a lot of cases where teen-age girls are beaten, they know that they are not the right ones to be learned.

![img-5.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/03-23/img-5.jpeg)

"We're here to heighten awareness and to get them thinking about such questions as 'What do I expect from someone else?' 'How do I recognize what I like and don't like?'"

**State Police Trooper Julia Moseley**

## Prevention is the ultimate goal

**TROOPERS, Page A33**

## State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence

**TROOPERS**

**Continued from Page A31**

Moseley recently spent three mornings with John Hickey's "South. Values and Current Events" class at Norton High School. She began the sessions by asking students to describe "abusive" dating behavior, which, she tells students, falls into three categories: physical, verbal, and emotional.

The answers came swiftly:

- "Motivating and sexual harassment," said one student.
- "Hustle and put-down," said another.

Within minutes, the students' list contained all forms of hostile behavior: possessiveness, chauvinism, pushing, chasing, threats, strangling, fending, and mind control.

In contrast, ideas for a second list on how respect is demonstrated between young people brought blank expressions from the attractive group. After some prodding by Moseley who asked, "When do you feel respected in a dating relationship?" a few hands went up.

"I feel respected when a boy is loyal and honest," said Rebecca Ennoud.

Katie Weisman agreed and said, "When a boy listens to your opinion and doesn't automatically say it's wrong."

Despite these responses, the list for words to describe respectful behavior was short. Moseley wasn't surprised, however.

"Making eye contact, talking calmly and listening to the other's ideas aren't as action oriented," she said. Still, she said, the morning's mission had been met.

"We're here to heighten awareness," she said, "and to get them thinking about such questions as 'What do I expect from someone else?' 'How do I recognize what I like and don't like?'"

Moseley insists the temptation to admonish and lecture. Instead, she allows students to guide the discussion.

Team member and fellow trooper Linda Orlando said the unit is an outgrowth of a training program by the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council that touches volunteers and has endorsement officers strategize to prevent teen-age dating violence.

So far, Orlando said, the program has reached more than 2,000 students in grades 5-12 in her dozen schools.

"We need to teach girls and boys to identify what's not acceptable in a relationship," said Trooper Marie Kenny, the third member of the team.

Kenny is a former Norfolk County rape investigator who joined the Domestic Violence Prevention unit after seeing hundreds of cases where teen-age girls were beaten, raped, and stalked by boyfriends.

"I realized that even if I worked 90 hours a week, I couldn't slow down the number of people coming through the door," she said. "I can have more of an impact if I reach zero before they get involved in a dangerous relationship."

Prevention is the ultimate goal, she said, "and schools are where we need to be to make a difference." Team members also give students a list of cases that 21 organizations use for state, that can help them deal with dating violence.

On the second morning in Norton, Moseley used magazine advertisements to illustrate how media images, food stereotypes, and school women as submissive and seen as in control.

Student David Falscher saw the absurdity in at least one presenter at.

"That woman hardly has any clothes on and she's selling candy," he exclaimed.

"Sex sells," said Holly Quaglia.

The classroom represents the spectrum of views in the adult world, said Moseley.

"We see the same attitudes and myths that are perpetrated from one generation to another," she said.

Orlando said it is essential to teach kids how to make informed decisions.

"That's a process that has to be learned," she said. "Students are defining their positions on some of those issues, and they may have never explored differences of abuse and respect."

Kenny knows that there, if there are a lot of cases where teen-age girls are beaten, they know that they are not the right ones to be learned.

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## State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence

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## State Police go into schools to talk about teen-age dating violence

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