"Educators and Activists Share" with Mike Domitrz

Sex Ed in Schools

Below is a link to an article on Sex Ed in schools.  Please comment with your reactions:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1622610&sc=emaf

Helping it RAINN for sexual assault survivors across the country.

If you are aware of R.A.I.N.N. (the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network), you know the wonderful work Scott Berkewitz and his entire staff does for survivors.  When sexual assault survivors e-mail us asking for resources available to them outside of their local area, R.A.I.N.N. always does a great job of supporting those individuals.

How can you help?  The next time you have a member or friend is having a birthday, send a donation in their name to R.A.I.N.N..  Your gift will be a great sign of you thinking of your friend.  Plus, you get to make a positive difference.

Scott Berkewitz and I just got off the phone.  He was telling me about their new 24/7 Campaign you can contribute to.  Visit them at www.rainn.org and check it out.

Honoring Martin Luther King Jr., His Legacy, & Respect

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."  On this day set aside to remember and honor the positive impact he had on our world, may we all work to mold a new consensus of respect of all people, males and females.

May we work to insure "respect" is ingrained in every aspect of our society - from a 4 year old born into financial poverty to the wealthiest and most powerful leaders in our world.  For if respect was truly given and received by all and to all, we would have little need for the work many of us do.

Thank you, Martin Luther King Jr., for improving our world.  While many of today's society were never alive to meet you or hear your words in-person, your legacy lives forever!

CALCASA, Violence Against Women, Sexual Assault, and the Department of Justice: a great day in Washington, D.C.

Today, I presented at CALCASA's Campus Training and Technical Assistance Institute in Washington, D.C..  Being asked to speak at this specific conference was a great honor.  The conference started two days ago on Tuesday and was finishing up today (Thursday).  The attendees were all recipients of the Violence Against Women Grant. 

The morning started with the Department of Justice's Director for the Office on Violence Against Women - Cindy Dyer.  She shared her roots in the movement, including being the first woman to wear a pantsuit in her position back in the early 90s.  Her sense of humor was matched with her commitment to making a positive difference in reducing sexual assault.  She was guinely thrilled to have the opportunity her position holds.  I am excited to see the changes she will initiate during her time in this office.

Following Ms. Dyer's opening comments, I presented "Going All the Way with Consent" for 2 workshop sessions.  During both programs, the audience members were engaging, fun, and passionate. We discussed how to produce effective and meaningful educational programs addressing consent, especially the importance of providing real solutions for students.

To end the conference, I gave the final keynote -- "Can I Kiss You?"  Getting to close out the conference for everyone was a honor, especially knowing the makeup of the audience members.  This was a group of professionals who were knowledgeable and devoted to the issue.  For the many people who came up and talked afterwards, Thank you! 

None of this day would have been possible without the Department of Justice and CALCASA (the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault).  The staff with the Office on Violence Against Women talked to me after my keynote and showed great support for the movement to discuss "CONSENT" in more educational programs.  For the CALCASA staff who chose me as a workshop presenter and to have me give the final keynote, THANK YOU!!!

Strength of a Sexual Assault Survivor

After we received an amazingly powerful letter from a survivor who had recently read the book Voices of Courage, Karen D. Carroll (one of the survivors in the book and the Associate Director at Bronx SART) shared the following comment with us:

"I am frequently asked about how I got through my ordeal.  I spent years asking....why me?  It finally occurred to me 3 years ago that my experience happened to me not because of what I did, but because of what I will do!"

When you share the above quote with others, please give Karen Carroll all the credit!!  Her words are a fantastic example of the strength survivors possess.

YouTube video hits home on Sexual Assault Awareness and College Students

Claire Kaplan, the Director of Sexual & Domestic Violence Services at the University of Virginia, shared a very powerful YouTube video earlier today.  Ask yourself how you can utilize this video on your campus, with your peer educators, with students, with parents.  Who could you get to work with you on spreading this video (your school's own TV station, local cable access)?  The film includes credits at the end which should help you get permission to do so.  At The Date Safe Project, we are currently working on getting in touch with the Producers (trying to find who has permission for use of the video).  As soon as we have more information, we will announce it.

After watching the video, what questions would you ask students, staff, parents, administrators?  Share your thoughts by leaving a COMMENT on this posting.

A new semester of school brings fresh challenges for educators (mentally, emotionally, and physically).

Teachers, professors, educators, advisors, student leaders, and activists have shared throughout the years how busy this time of the year is for everyone.  For middle schools and high schools, the first semester is wrapping up.  For colleges and universities, a new semester is about to begin.  Not surprisingly, do you notice how many people get sick during this 3 or 4 weeks?  Stress.

Those of you who devote your lifes to helping others often forget to take care of yourselves.  A common mistake for many of us.  What do you do to relax and take care of yourself?  Quickly grab a piece of paper.  Draw a line down the middle so that you have 2 columns.  Above one column write, "Relax" and at the top of the other column, write "Taking Care of Me."  Now, write down everything you ENJOY doing to relax and to take care of yourself.  If you have too short of a list, ask people what they like.  Suddenly, you should have a nice list for yourself.  Look at your daily schedule and take 30 minutes twice a day to do one of the "Relax" items and 30 minutes for one of the "Taking Care of Me" choices.  The bigger the list, the better.  Variety and options are key to most people sticking with a plan.  Best of all, this approach makes taking care of you FUN!!

Start right here on this blog.  Leave a COMMENT listing as many items as you can think of for "Relax" and "Taking Care of ME."  The more we share, the more we tend to receive!