Family Advocacy offers awareness campaign

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month across the U.S. and on U.S. military installations around the globe. The first campaign event is at 5:30 p.m. today in the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center food court.

Air Force Office of Special Investigations will have a speaker present information on cyber-awareness, as many people use online social networking for socializing.

“We are reaching out to teenagers and their parents,” said Barbara Cox, Family Advocacy outreach manager. “We are offering a ‘Parenting of Teens’ training, which includes a component for great communication between parents and teens and how they can turn to their parents in a time of need.”
In addition to cyber-awareness training, personnel from Family Advocacy will be talking to students during their health classes at Ramstein High School about healthy dating. FA will also be hosting parent and teen classes throughout February.

The classes are all listed on the 86th Force Support Squadron’s webpage. While the classes are free of charge, parents need to register for the Active Parenting of Teens workshop, as seats are limited.
“People are always welcome to call us,” said Emily McCormick, FA intervention specialist. “We have a consultation service where we will assist an individual, couples, or parents to talk about an issue of concern for them and ensure they are connected with the right agencies and resources to help them.”
Family Advocacy offers quarterly anger management, couples communication and stress management courses as well.

“Our agency is about helping families and supporting healthy relationships,” McCormick said. “We have a number of prevention services we offer; any Department of Defense cardholder can attend.”

The Teen Center will have a banner hung throughout the month for teens to sign as a pledge to be in a healthy, non-violent relationship.

The campaign will help raise awareness of teen dating violence to parents and teens. For more information about the events and classes, contact Family Advocacy at 479-2370 or 06302-46-2370.