LOOKING FOR ANSWERS
'Knowledge is safety': What schools are doing

GREG DERR/The Patriot Ledger Actress Denise Golsalves in "The Yellow Dress," a one-person play about a young high school girl who is killed by her boyfriend. Golsalves recently performed at Rockland High School. Teens say "The Yellow Dress" is a prevention program that works.

In the 1950s, Wally Cleaver worried about prom dates and skin blemishes on the TV sitcom “Leave It To Beaver.” Today’s teen characters confront drug use and date rape.

The dramatic differences are part of class discussion for 10th graders at Cohasset High School. The purpose: making young people “media literate” in a highly sexualized culture.

“Sexual messages are being received by much younger audiences today, and we have to be prepared to help them understand, to be good consumers,” said Michael Gill, Cohasset’s health education coordinator. “The media has become a parallel school system in this country and is one of the primary educators of young people. It is not just the music and TV but now the Internet chat rooms.”

By comparing the two eras, Gill said, young people realize “they are dealing with a lot more than their parents did.” Hopefully the dialogue can help teens make safer choices and avoid risky or harmful behavior including feeling pressured to have sex.

A Patriot Ledger survey found that only 2 percent of teenage boys and girls would tell a school counselor if a friend or date forced them to have sex. That low percentage surprised Gill; it underscored the challenge in creating a climate where teens candidly talk about what is happening to them.

Local schools have broad discretion in how they address teen sexual attitudes and behavior. There is no statewide standard on how date rape or other domestic violence should be taught. “It has to be a collaborative effort with the parents,” said Nancy Currie, Marshfield High School health coordinator. Local communities including Marshfield receive state funding to train staff, develop curriculum and offer support groups.

Starting in the elementary grades, some schools invite parents to programs where “we explain what we will be talking to their kids about (puberty) and what language we will be using,” said AnnMarie Leonard, health coordinator in Stoughton.

In the middle schools, students may talk about bullying behavior and sexual harassment in the sixth grades. Area high schools include health education classes ranging from healthy relationships to dating violence. Some run workshops or sponsor assemblies with outside speakers.

The schools have found that the key to keeping the students engaged is variety. “We don’t want to keep coming at them with the same message because then they tune you out, so we use different venues, different types of programs,” Leonard said. In Rockland, for example, freshman and juniors gave high marks to a one-woman play that looked at dating violence, “The Yellow Dress.”

Teens who were part of a Patriot Ledger focus group on sex, dating and sexual violence, also rated “The Yellow Dress” highly.

Local schools have broad discretion in how they address teen sexual attitudes and behavior. There is no statewide standard on how date rape or other domestic violence should be taught.

In Hingham and Plymouth, students this year attended assemblies on dating violence with The White Ribbon Campaign. The boys were invited to stand and take a pledge to prevent physical and emotional abuse of women; the students wore white ribbons to symbolize that commitment. The campaign, a grass-roots movement to prevent domestic violence, was started by the South Shore Women’s Center in Plymouth.

Marshfield High School students spent a week viewing and discussing The Clothesline Project: T-shirt art that depicts violence against women.

In Stoughton, a state trooper spends three days every fall talking to high school freshman about sexual coercion, date rape and self-esteem.

While some educators believe that parents should have most of the responsibility for educating students about such issues, others see the need for schools to get involved.

“Kids from dysfunctional families have more difficulty filtering all the sexual and violence messages in our culture,” said Gill, Cohasset’s health coordinator.

“Knowledge is safety on difficult issues like sexual assault or other dating violence which need discussion,” said Stoughton’s Leonard.

The South Shore Women’s Center has worked with schools in 15 South Shore communities to promote programs on dating violence, said Director Barbara Fuyatt. She said schools find it helpful to have outside help with sensitive topics.

“The schools can be a safer place for kids to talk about what is difficult,” she said.

Programs that work

• The Clothesline Project: Students view an assemblage of T-shirts created by survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Contact: www.clotheslineproject.org
• The Yellow Dress: A one-woman dramatization about Cindy, a teenager in a relationship that turns deadly. Contact: Deana's Fund 781-438-5604; www.deanasfund.org
• Remote Control: By using a remote control, the main character in the play revisits the past and coaxes a friend to re-examine her abusive relationship. Contact: Deana's Fund 781-438-5604; www.deanasfund.org
• Red Tide: A play told from the perspective of a male student, who details the dating violence he witnesses among peers. Contact: The Women’s Crisis Center of Greater Newburyport Inc. 978-465-0999 x19
• Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office: A representative from the sheriff’s office works with students to debunk myths about dating violence and sexual assault, and students discuss how to intervene. Contact: Jeannine Kremer 781-751-3408