Page 53 - FOP March 2017 Newsletter

Chalking about a serious topic in the 20th
n BY NICK SWEDBERG
Districts across Chicago worked with the city’s youth during National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month to foster a better understanding of abusive relationships at an early age.
In particular, events held in areas such as the 14th and 20th Districts in February provided lessons to teens about how to identify problematic relationships. “After we gave them the education, then we let them go out with their own message or the messages they created and let them chalk up the buildings,” said Aileen Robinson, interim Domestic Violence Operations Coordinator for the Chi- cago Police Department’s Domestic Violence Program.
Teens in several districts used sidewalk chalk provided by the hosting officers. Robinson said she believed the youth would be excited for the chance to chalk up a Dis- trict headquarters.
The program attempts to instill positive messages about what healthy relationships should look like, she said. Many teens aren’t as quick to identify abuse, espe- cially emotionally abusive actions like a partner express- ing jealousy. Robinson explained that it’s sometimes re- garded as just another part of dating.
Parents spend time teaching their children to stay away from drugs or alcohol and the consequences of having sex, Robinson said, “but how many parents talk to their
kids about having healthy relationships? Probably not many.”
According to Robinson,
teens in the city aren’t ac-
customed to working with
the Department to edu-
cate themselves and deal
with problems in their relationships. That’s part of why the Domestic Violence Program switched up its approach to educating youth, she said. Teens are put into roles to act out what an abusive relationship is like. From that act- ing, the teens start to use their own language to identify the problems.
“We used to sit down and talk at kids. While they might participate in the conversion, I was never convinced that they were walking away with anything,” Robinson said. Now, she said, they receive more powerful feedback from the children when they participate in the activities. d
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MARCH 2017 53