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Wichita Teens Celebrate Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month with a City Wide Art Exhibit for Final Friday
WICHITA, Kan. – START STRONG WICHITA CHOOSE RESPECT , a project of Catholic Charities of Wichita, will feature the second annual “What’s Luv Got to do Wit’ It?” Art Exhibit as part of Final Friday, February 25 from 6-10 p.m. at the Shopkeeper’s Gallery (228 N. Market). All across Wichita Public Schools, a student led campaign has garnered attention for the art crawl with giant posters that have read ‘2 is coming’, and the student leaders are now sharing that the event has arrived.
This year’s exhibit will feature Art from almost every Wichita middle school. Students were asked to reflect on how digital communication affects dating. Sexting – the act of sending sexually suggestive text messages through phones or online has become a serious problem among today’s youth.
- About 1 in 3 teens said a partner had text messaged them up to 30 times/hour to check on what they were doing, where, and who they were with. Love is not Abuse
- 1 in 4 teens in a relationship have been called names, harassed or put down by their partner through cell phones and texting. Love is not Abuse
- One in five teen girls and one in ten younger teen girls (13 to 16) have electronically sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves. Even more teen girls, 37 percent, have sent or posted sexually suggestive text, email or instant messages. (CosmoGirl.com. 2008)
“Wichita accounts for almost 22% of all reported sexual assaults in the state of Kansas, and of those; nearly 50% involved a victim under the age of 19,” said Cynthia N. Colbert, Catholic Charities of Wichita Executive Director. “Through our Harbor House domestic violence shelter and outreach services we see first-hand the devastating results that domestic and dating violence has on families, children, women and men. Prevention is key to ending domestic violence to strengthen families and strengthen our community. Through our START STRONG WICHITA project we seek to end domestic violence before it starts by educating teens on having healthy relationships to prevent them from not only becoming victims of domestic violence but also from becoming abusers. Catholic Charities has been a community leader in building coalitions to end dating and domestic violence.”
On February 8, Mayor Carl Brewer read a proclamation at the City Council meeting redeclaring February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month; encouraging members of the community to attend this year’s awareness event. Mr. Brewer joined over 300 patrons last year, which featured works from over 180 middle schoolers and high schoolers. This year’s event is shaping up to be even larger.
This year’s art exhibit will feature multiple mediums of art to spread the word to the community including paintings, sketches, sculptures, poetry readings, music, live theatre, and even some student films.
Admission to this event is FREE. For more information on this and other events, please visit START STRONG WICHITA on Facebook, Myspace, and YouTube and find out how to get involved in stopping dating and domestic violence.
For more information on START STRONG WICHITA, please visit us online at http://www.StartStrongWichita.org
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About START STRONG WICHITA
START STRONG WICHITA is a project of Catholic Charities and builds on the existing work of Choose Respect. We are proud to partner with the following organizations: Wichita Public Schools, Wichita State University, WASAC, the Y, the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas, and Catholic Charities Harbor House. Start Strong Wichita is the largest national initiative ever funded to target 11- to 14-year-olds to promote safe and healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence and abuse. The project educates not only teens but parents and the community at large on preventing teen dating violence by forming healthy relationships. The ultimate goal of START STRONG WICHITA is to stop domestic violence by preventing teens from becoming either victims or abusers. Catholic Charities was chosen as 1 of 11 community organizations nationwide to receive funding through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national program, Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships (www.startstrongteens.org). Learn more about START STRONG WICHITA at www.startstrongwichita.org.
About Catholic Charities
Celebrating 67 years of services, Catholic Charities Inc. – Diocese of Wichita meets critical community needs in south central and southeast Kansas through direct services and advocacy. The mission of Catholic Charities is to “demonstrate the Gospel values of love and justice through service, education, advocacy, and collaboration.” As the social service outreach of the Catholic Church, Catholic Charities helps families and individuals in need without regard to religious affiliation. The result is more than 25,000 lives touched with needed encouragement and support each year. Catholic Charities expresses the belief that each person should be “treated equally with respect and compassion” through its programs and services in the areas of family and relationship strengthening, domestic violence services and advocacy, food and support assistance, homelessness, multicultural services, and senior and disability services. The agency empowers individuals through education about their personal strengths, rights and options to make informed decisions. Since establishment in 1943, Catholic Charities has remained focused on making a positive difference in the lives of families and individuals. For more information, visit www.CatholiCharitiesWichita.org.
About Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, we work with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years we’ve brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those we serve. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, we expect to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information visit www.rwjf.org.
