HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	214
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requesting the hawaii state coalition against domestic violence to develop, and for the department of education to implement a policy against teen dating violence and abuse.

WHEREAS, teen dating violence is a pattern of teen controlling and abusive behavior of one person over another within a romantic relationship including verbal, emotional, physical, sexual and financial abuse; and

WHEREAS, lack of dating experience allows teens to be more vulnerable to dating violence where they are less likely to recognize the abuse; and

WHEREAS, teen dating violence has become a prevalent problem in high schools, junior high schools and middle schools throughout our country, with one in three teens experiencing some kind of abuse in their romantic relationships; and

WHEREAS, girls and women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence and of the young murdered each year between the ages of 15 to 19 thirty percent are killed by their boyfriend or husband; and

WHEREAS, recent studies have shown that teen dating violence is starting at an early age with 11 to 14 year olds able to identify aspects of teen dating abuse in their social lives; and

WHEREAS, early sexual experiences can be a precursor to dating violence and abuse among older teens and can perpetuate a culture of acceptance of this type of behavior; and

WHEREAS, abuse and violence in intimate partner relationships not only causes great individual pain, but also breaks down families, communities and society at large; and

WHEREAS, education is the best mechanism to stop teen dating violence and is crucial to create a culture of intolerance for teen dating abuse; and

WHEREAS, when a student is a victim of dating violence, her academic life suffers and her safety at school is jeopardized; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the Hawaii State Coalition against Domestic Violence develop a model dating violence policy by January 1, 2010 to assist public schools in developing policies for dating violence reporting and response, and transmit the policy to the Board of Education for approval by January 15, 2010; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education approve such policy as soon as possible for use within all public schools, and that the Department of Education create public-private partnerships to provide, on an annual basis, dating violence training to teach all administrators, teachers, nurses, and counselors at the middle and high schools to recognize the signs of dating violence; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii public schools consider incorporating age-appropriate dating violence education into any annual health curriculum framework for students in grades seven through twelve; and 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of the Department of Education, the Chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Education, and all Hawaii public school administrators and principals.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Teen Dating Violence; education; training; policy