Teens’ Call for Safe Prom; Speak Out Against Sex, Drugs, Drinking & Dating Violence
Austin, Texas – Prom Night is the night you remember for a lifetime. It is also the night teens face the greatest amount of peer pressure. Teens face pressure to drink, do drugs and have sex. These behaviors often lead to teen dating violence and teen pregnancy.
Today, just days before the prom, a group of Westlake juniors and seniors are standing strong against the incredible pressures of Prom Night. The teens are speaking honestly about the pressures they face and are pledging to set an example as positive role models by refusing to engage in bad behavior on prom night and by dedicating themselves to help stop teen dating violence.
GETMAD (Girls Engaged in Making a Difference) and GENTS (Guys Exhibiting Needed Traits in Society) Westlake High School (WHS) student service organizations in Austin, Texas, are speaking out to other peers across the United States and channeling their energy to help the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline (NTDAH). The teens helped raise more than $30,000 to support the Helpline to address, prevent and eliminate teen dating abuse among our teens.
T.J. Stevenson, a junior and his sister Allyson Stevenson, a senior say they are confident in making the right choices on Prom night because they have strong inner core values and carefully select their friends. “Selecting friends is one of the most important decisions in making the right choices and refraining from peer pressure. If you are more concerned with how many friends you have on MySpace.com or Facebook.com and all you care about is a popularity contest, not the quality of the friends you meet on line or at school, you are more susceptible to making the wrong choices. If you hang out with true friends, that share your beliefs, they will not pressure you to do things you don’t want to do. True friends help relieve the pressure so you can stand strong together and you don’t ruin your life because your judgment was impaired.”
Located in Austin, loveisrespect.org, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, was officially launched last year in partnership with Liz Claiborne. NTDAH offers real-time one-on-one support, information and advocacy from trained Peer Advocates 24 hours a day to teens involved in dating abuse relationships. Concerned parents, teachers, clergy, law enforcement officials and service providers may also access the Helpline for assistance and information.
For more information about teen dating abuse, visit the Helpline on-line at loveisrespect.org or call 1-866-331-9474/1-866-331-8453 TTY.