AUBURN - Jaimi Jones didn't know until recently that domestic violence is not limited to physical and verbal abuse.
“It's not just physical abuse and it's not just name calling,” the 17-year-old New Visions Legal Professions student from Aurelius said. “It's more than hitting someone and saying rude things.”
In fact, she and her fellow students in the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services New Visions programs learned two weeks ago during a teen domestic violence seminar that domestic violence also incorporates psychological, financial, emotional and technological abuse.
“There's no point in being in an unhealthy relationship,” Legal Professions student Natalie McNabb, 18, of Poplar Ridge said.
Responded Jones, “You need to know when to get yourself out.”
That is exactly the point of the teen domestic seminar, organized by Cayuga County's Integrated Domestic Violence Court in conjunction with the Center for Court Innovation, a New York City-based nonprofit think-tank dedicated to helping courts and criminal justice entities aid victims, curb crime and improve the public trust in justice.
Representatives have been conducting domestic violence training to educate people about it since the court opened four years ago. But none of these trainings dealt specifically with teen domestic violence until the seminar arranged for New Visions students on Dec. 5 at the Cayuga County Courthouse.
All of the New Visions classes - Legal Professions, Teacher Education, Medical, Environmental Science and Technology, and Business and Media Communications - participated in the seminar.
“(Teenagers) are starting their relationships with significant others and it's really important that they learn in this stage of their lives how to recognize what domestic violence is,” Integrated Domestic Violence Court Coordinator Ann Bunker said. “If they are experiencing domestic violence - be it physical, emotional, mental - they need to be able to recognize it as that, understand they don't have to deal with that, and how to deal with it and help their friends deal with it.”
The court will offer the training for youths again should schools and organizations request it, she said.
“Domestic violence is so pervasive in our society,” Bunker said, “and one of the areas we see a great deal of need for is education for teens in our community and nationwide.”
Legal Professions teacher Al Pola said educating people about domestic violence in the hopes of reducing its occurrence has been a major objective of his since he first joined law enforcement in 1984, but especially when he became a teacher.
“In listening to the students talk and seeing some of the things they see on TV, that's when I became aware of how domestic violence affects this age group, and the need to educate about domestic violence so there is less of it,” he said.
Melissa Bodnar, 18, of Scipio, said information about domestic violence is important for youths to know, but even more so at smaller schools.
“A lot of stuff gets brushed under the carpet at small schools,” she said.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
In fact, she and her fellow students in the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services New Visions programs learned two weeks ago during a teen domestic violence seminar that domestic violence also incorporates psychological, financial, emotional and technological abuse.
“There's no point in being in an unhealthy relationship,” Legal Professions student Natalie McNabb, 18, of Poplar Ridge said.
Responded Jones, “You need to know when to get yourself out.”
That is exactly the point of the teen domestic seminar, organized by Cayuga County's Integrated Domestic Violence Court in conjunction with the Center for Court Innovation, a New York City-based nonprofit think-tank dedicated to helping courts and criminal justice entities aid victims, curb crime and improve the public trust in justice.
Representatives have been conducting domestic violence training to educate people about it since the court opened four years ago. But none of these trainings dealt specifically with teen domestic violence until the seminar arranged for New Visions students on Dec. 5 at the Cayuga County Courthouse.
All of the New Visions classes - Legal Professions, Teacher Education, Medical, Environmental Science and Technology, and Business and Media Communications - participated in the seminar.
“(Teenagers) are starting their relationships with significant others and it's really important that they learn in this stage of their lives how to recognize what domestic violence is,” Integrated Domestic Violence Court Coordinator Ann Bunker said. “If they are experiencing domestic violence - be it physical, emotional, mental - they need to be able to recognize it as that, understand they don't have to deal with that, and how to deal with it and help their friends deal with it.”
The court will offer the training for youths again should schools and organizations request it, she said.
“Domestic violence is so pervasive in our society,” Bunker said, “and one of the areas we see a great deal of need for is education for teens in our community and nationwide.”
Legal Professions teacher Al Pola said educating people about domestic violence in the hopes of reducing its occurrence has been a major objective of his since he first joined law enforcement in 1984, but especially when he became a teacher.
“In listening to the students talk and seeing some of the things they see on TV, that's when I became aware of how domestic violence affects this age group, and the need to educate about domestic violence so there is less of it,” he said.
Melissa Bodnar, 18, of Scipio, said information about domestic violence is important for youths to know, but even more so at smaller schools.
“A lot of stuff gets brushed under the carpet at small schools,” she said.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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