By Lizz Panchyk
February was Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM), which raises awareness about the issue of teen dating violence and recognizes that 43 percent of college women report experiencing violent or abusive dating behaviors. To help educate students to stop dating abuse before it starts, the Safe Center Long Island did a tabling event with Adelphi’s Title IX office on Feb. 21 to share some red flags.
They used a dating game to demonstrate how students can navigate difficult and uncomfortable situations. The red flags they shared include, but are not limited to: contempt, suspicion, lack of communication, dishonesty and impatience. They had a tri-fold with both positive and negative words and the game was to put red flags and green flags on the correct words. Whoever did it the fastest won a prize. The table contained Tootsie pops, necklaces, along with Safe Center pens, hand sanitizers and stick-on wallets and their business cards.
While the game was a light-hearted way to share tips about dating safety, the Bethpage-based organization has a more serious goal for TDVAM. Safe Center Long Island protects, assists and empowers victims of family violence and sexual assault while challenging and changing social systems that tolerate and perpetuate abuse. Their hotline is 516-542-0404 and their Love is Respect hotline is 866-331-9474. If you are ever in a situation on campus where you feel uncomfortable or unsafe with another person, the Title IX office at Adelphi can be reached at 516-877-4819, titleix@adelphi.edu and can be found in Levermore 207.