MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Shelby County Schools is using this time of year as an opportunity to teach some high school students a different lesson in relationships.
“I love you, I hate you, I hit you, I’m sorry,” speaker Aisha Raison told a student assembly at Carver High School. She was recalling the cycle an abuser put her through.
The school held a domestic violence awareness rally Wednesday called “No More Silence.”
The district’s Coordinated School Health Department put on the event to teach students about healthy relationships.
“We chose Carver, because it’s right here on the west side of the city, you know, where the crime rates are high, where there’s a lot of hopelessness, and we’re trying to uplift the students in this area,” said SCS Coordinated School Health Manager Jean Massey.
WREG requested data on domestic assault charges from juvenile court. There are hundreds of domestic assault charges each year.
While the total number of charges in juvenile court has decreased over the past five years, the percentage of domestic assault charges appears to have increased slightly during that time. (Note: Percentage aside, the total number of domestic assault charges appears to have decreased in recent years.)
2010: 15,700 total charges in juvenile court, 881 of them domestic assault charges (6 percent)
2011: 14,332 total charges in juvenile court, 932 of them domestic assault charges (7 percent)
2012: 12,495 total charges in juvenile court, 846 of them domestic assault charges (7 percent)
2013: 12,158 total charges in juvenile court, 885 of them domestic assault charges (7 percent)
2014: 10,026 total charges in juvenile court, 724 of them domestic assault charges (7 percent)
2015: 8,453 total charges in juvenile court, 658 of them domestic assault charges (8 percent)
“There were some drugs, on his side, that were involved, and needless to say, there was a lot of violence that was involved,” Raison said.
Raison is a domestic violence survivor and activist. She told students about how she got out.
“I learned that you should love yourself before you love someone else, or you should learn yourself before you expose yourself to someone else,” said Carver senior Anthony Foster.
Organizers believe many students are exposed to domestic violence, either at home or through their own relationships. They said the violence is not the only threat to student safety.
“It’s an academic issue. If you’re either living in a home where domestic violence is occurring or you’re in a relationship where domestic violence is occurring, you can’t study. It’s hard to learn. It’s hard to focus,” Massey said.
The CDC reports February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.
Students and community members left Wednesday’s rally with purple ribbons to wear to spread the message around the community.