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Who says politicians don’t listen or respond to those too young to vote! S.T.O.P. Abuse (Students Together for Outreach and Prevention of Abuse), a peer education initiative based in northeastern Pennsylvania designed to prevent domestic violence, demonstrates that it pays for teens to speak up and not give up.
State legislators and their staff routinely hear from professional lobbyists but information provided by unpaid young advocates resonates in a different sphere. When students meet face-to-face with elected officials, some lawmakers may take it all more personally as their minds imagine what their own children, granddaughters or nephews might be saying or thinking. There’s an even better reason why youths can penetrate the decision-making machinations of elected officials—credibility. Today’s teens are experts on their own generation and their firsthand experiences complement the hard research and data presented by the pros.
Here are several reflections shared with the Youth Activism Project by high school students active for the past 2-4 years with S.T.O.P. Abuse. Their involvement “educating” legislators helped broaden the Pennsylvania’s Protection From Abuse Act. Now this state law allows individuals to seek a Protection from Abuse order (PFA) not only against family members and “intimate” partners but also those who pose a threat, for example, an ex-boyfriend that could result in teen dating violence.
"They always underestimate us at first, and once we talk about how it affects our families or kids we know, with very specific details we get a little bit more respect. It isn’t until we demonstrate that we know what we are talking about, when they begin to respond and ask real [non-patronizing] questions. That’s when they consider the information packets that we give them more seriously.” ~ Ayanna Greene
“It was obvious that some of them [legislators] didn’t care what we had to say initially. Once we followed up our comments with statistics and quotes of victims their entire disposition shifted. We got their attention then.”
~ Kim Liburd
“I was with a woman whose sister was a domestic murder victim when we shared information with a House Representative staffer, and I felt like she [aide] was very interested in what we had to say and that she would let the Representative know what we had to say.”
~ Krystal Torress
“She [Senator Lisa Boscola] listened and talked to us. She was very supportive. It felt like she already supports victims and the proposed legislation. She invited us to send information on how it affects kids our age.”
~ Keiba Bragg-Best
The sincere respect and support by an aide to Senator Boscola expressed to S.T.O.P. Abuse representatives during one of their legislative visits to the State Capitol in Harrisburg made an indelible impression on peer educator Johnathan Miranda, that prompted him to change his career path and pursue politics rather than culinary arts.
S.T.O.P. Abuse demonstrates that in addition to the powerful influence of peer educators, these articulate well-informed youths can and should share their knowledge with policymakers—yes, politicians. It’s equally important to pursue a wide variety of activities because hanging out at one’s state legislature is a dangerous breeding ground for cynicism. Here’s a sampling of other contributions since 1998 by S.T.O.P. Abuse:
> presenting hundreds of presentations to children and teens
> speaking at conferences including the National Center for Victims of Crime
> produced a “Sociodrama”> created a public service spot
> collaborated on the “Art as Peace” initiative
> recommended changes together with R.Y.O.T. Against Rape that were incorporated in an educational music video about male sexual violence
For more information, contact:
S.T.O.P. Abuse & Women’s Resource Center of Monroe County
http://www.enter.net/~wrmc/youth-outreach.html
Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence
http://www.pcdv.org
National Center for Victims of Crime Teen Victim Project
http://www.ncvc.org/tvp/main.aspx?dbID=dash_Home
National Domestic Violence Hotline
http://www.ndvh.org/educate/teen.html
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