The DOVE Alliance of Teen Educators (DATE) recently held a blackout event in honor of Time’s Up. Time’s Up is a movement against sexual harassment launched earlier this year. By encouraging students to wear all black in support of the movement, DATE aimed to continue the conversation about gender-based violence and harassment. The DATE team was created by Domestic Violence Ended (DOVE) to empower students who are passionate about ending domestic violence in their communities.

Shantal Infante is one of three remaining members of Holbrook’s DATE team. When asked why she thinks Time’s Up is important she said, “Why wouldn’t it be? It’s a movement promoting the stoppage of sexual misconduct anywhere and everywhere.” Additionally, she said that she may know warning signs, but she wants to learn “more about the analytical side of it” and help educate her peers.

All members of DOVE and DATE attended a full day workshop on healthy relationships in November. Following that, they led classroom presentations for students in the eighth and ninth grade, explaining the spectrum of healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships. Through these trainings, they showed students the warning signs and taught them how to respond if they or someone they care about is in an abusive relationship.

In February, nationally recognized as Teen Dating Violence Prevention Month, the DATE team held a table during lunches to share resources with the student body. They challenged couples to take quizzes about being in a healthy relationship and how to be a good partner. They also had signs for people to write out what love means to them and what they love about their partners. This was meant to spark meaningful conversations about love and the way that people express it.

For more information about DOVE, visit dovema.org.