BALTIMORE — February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
To shed light on the issue, a group of Baltimore youth with Let's Thrive Baltimore created a video to raise awareness and help other young people.
“It’s important that we see the reality of the situation, so we know how to react know, how to help someone or what to look out for if we find ourselves in that situation,” said Sanaai Bridgeford, who attends Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.
According to the CDC, about 1 in every 12 high school students in the U.S experienced either sexual or physical violence.
Bridgeford was one of the actors in the film, but it’s also an issue that’s impacted her personally.
“I have experienced teen dating violence and I’ve also witnessed firsthand," she said.
Bridgeford said she was fortunate to get out of the relationship before it became physical. And now she’s sharing her story to help other teens.
“I’ve grown from it and learned from it. Being in that film, it was very important to me because I feel like me being in that situation, I have a duty to assist, explain, teach, and develop young people like me who find themselves in other situations like that,” she said.
“Teen dating violence is a serious issue, “ said Lisa Molock, Founder of Let’s Thrive Baltimore.
She said she is also a survivor of intimate partner violence. She said she experienced it during her teens and since she’s been an adult.
“I know a lot of people, young people who do not know what to do who are in that situation,” she said.
The video put together by the teens involved in her non-profit aims to help young people who also feel like they have nowhere to turn. The film not only shared facts about the issue, but also resources to assist teens who may be experiencing teen dating violence themselves.
“It’s very common and it's very normal and it’s not something that should be either of those,” said Tyric Byer, who is a part of Let’s Thrive Baltimore.
Byer was in the film as well. He believes talking about the issue is one of the best ways to help prevent it. And he said he hopes the video will help other teens recognize the signs and get help when they need it.
“Spreading awareness and talking about it and providing educational and how you should interact with people with your peers and when you should know to ask for help and the right help that you need to get when you are in these situations that is one of the most powerful preventative actions that we can take,” he said.
To watch the video from Let’s Thrive Baltimore, you can visit this link here
