February is recognized nationally as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Abuse does not discriminate by age. In fact, one in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. Only 33% of teens who were in a violent relationship ever told anyone about the abuse (loveisrespect.org). We want to create a supportive environment to bring awareness to this issue and offer resources to anyone who may be suffering in silence.
To bring light to this issue that affects so many young people in our community, the WCA hosts an annual PSA Contest to get young people talking and thinking about their relationships. These PSAs are intended to give teens the opportunity to inform their peers about what abusive relationships look like, the difference between unhealthy and healthy relationships, and the resources available to anyone who is struggling or has questions.
Students in the Treasure Valley are invited to create a 29-second video about teen dating violence and/or healthy relationships. This year we have added the option to design a digital poster. The 2019 PSA Contest is open for submissions and we are excited to see what creative PSAs students produce!
This contest is open to any junior high or high school student in the Treasure Valley. There are prizes for the winners of each category! More information about the rules and guidelines of this contest can be found at http://www.wcaboise.org/get-involved/psa/
The deadline for this contest is Friday, February 1st, and the winners will be announced at the end of the month! If you have any questions about the contest, please email Rebecca at [email protected].
To see submissions from previous years, check out our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlNtI_NcOcpQI4W8koLzDhhRsl50lGF7m