Yesterday Governor Christie signed the NJ SAFE DATING BILL A2920 into law. I can hardly believe that it is real. In less than a year, NJ legislators came together and did something great for the kids of NJ. A2920 requires all middle and high schools, grades 7-12, to add SAFE DATING to their annual health curriculum. The curriculum is free and the online staff training is free, sponsored by Love is Not Abuse. Basically they will learn what dating abuse is and how to protect themselves against it.
Most people don't realize the dangers that surround dating. I do because I own a counseling center in NJ called Express Yourself Today http://www.expressyourselftoday.com/ and I specialize in treating dating abuse and date rape victims. Dating abuse has become a national health crisis and has slowly become the norm in our society.
So many people ask me on a daily basis why that is? It is because kids do not know what a healthy relationship is and is not, whether it is because they have divorced parents, single parents, or a result of violence in society today. Sadly, girls don't realize that their boyfriends shouldn't call them names, be mean to them, and try to control their every move. Dating abuse eventually turns into domestic violence, which costs our federal government over 8 billion dollars every year and 1/3 of all women murdered in our country are brutally killed at the hands of their initmate partners.
May 3, 2011 marked the year anniversary since the brutal murder of Yeardley Love by her boyfriend, whom she had tried to break up with. They were both star lacrosse players at the University of Virginia, just a few weeks away from graduating and starting the rest of their lives. When I met with Assemblyman Bucco to propose the SAFE DATING LAW, I told him the gruesome story of how Yeardley's boyfriend murdered her by breaking into her apartment and beating her head against the wall until she was dead. Her college roommates found Yeardley the next morning lying in a pool of blood. Yeardley Love was said to be one of the nicest young women that you could ever meet. Her last name "Love" says it all.
The list of beautiful young women who have lost their lives by trying to break up with abusive boyfriends is endless and most of these relationships were never physically abusive until the day they were murdered. Each story is strikingly similar in the chain of events that leads up to the murders. If these young women had been educated about dating abuse and how to get out of an abusive dating relationship safely, the ending of the story probably would have been much different and they would be able to share their stories with us today.
I want to give a great BIG THANK YOU to Governor Christie, the NJ Assembly, the NJ Senate, and specifically Bruce Sisler and Matt Weitzel for all of their hard work in passing the NJ SAFE DATING LAW quickly. Thanks to A2920, the kids of NJ will be educated and protected against the risks and dangers of dating abuse...what a beautiful thing!
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