Idaho coalition to tackle student violence
By JESSIE L. BONNER
Associated Press Writer
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence will spend $1 million on prevention programs in public schools and local communities after a statewide survey showed one in every 10 teenage students had been forced to have sex.
The Boise-based coalition was among 11 groups nationwide awarded grants by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Wednesday for programs aimed at preventing teen dating violence and abuse.
In Idaho, these programs are expected to reach as many as 35,000 students during the next four years as they are implemented in 18 counties in southern Idaho, said Kelly Miller, the organization’s legal director.
The grant will allow the coalition to expand its high school violence prevention programs into middle schools and highlight the importance of healthy relationships to students as young as 10 years old, beginning next year.
“Teens are dating at an earlier age, reaching them in high school isn’t soon enough,” Miller said. “In some cases, students were already in their third or fourth abusive relationship by the 11th grade.”
The coalition was alarmed by statistics the state Department of Education released from a 2007 survey of Idaho high school students, Miller said. The state Department of Education gathers data from high school students every two years as part of the Idaho Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
In the latest survey released in November 2007, the number of students who reported they had been forced to have unwanted sex increased from 9 percent in 2005 to 11 percent.
The report also showed one in every eight Idaho high school students was slapped, kicked or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend last year, an increase from 10 percent in 2005 to 13 percent.
Nationwide, one in every 10 teenagers in grades 9 through 12 reported their boyfriend or girlfriend had been violent toward them, said Miller, who thinks the Idaho statistics might be understated.
“I think it’s much higher,” she said, “Teens don’t always recognize when they’re in unhealthy relationships.”
The New Jersey-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also awarded grants to the Boston Public Health Commission, Catholic Charities in Wichita, Kan., and the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland, Calif., to pay for four-year programs aimed at preventing teen dating violence and abuse.
The Idaho coalition is the only group working in predominantly rural areas, where students live in small communities and often feel uncomfortable when reporting dating violence or abuse and seeking help, Miller said.
“It’s hard when you know everybody and you feel like there’s nowhere you can turn,” she said.