Making a TREE Team Plan
- What is our congregational story about why these issues are important to us to address through TREE participation? Whom do we want to tell this story to in our church community?
- When can we meet again as a TREE team? Whom might we want to invite into these meeting with us? Do we want to set up a regular meeting time?
- Do we want to read through the resource binder materials before coming back together? What are our questions and concerns about addressing healthy relationships and teen dating violence in our youth group?
- Based on the ideas presented during the TREE workshop, what kinds of programming and education are we interested in pursuing at our church?
- What kind of event, program or discussion would we like to have?
- Who would attend? Our youth group? What age ranges? Or do we want to consider collaborating with other churches (collaboration could occur with other TREE churches or with churches not in TREE)?
- What are our questions or concerns about planning an event or program?
- What kind of parent information would we like to provide along with our youth education?
- What kind of support would be helpful from TREE (e.g. planning and coordination, providing supplies, providing a space, coordinating with TVPP or lending library, promotion, facilitation, additional training and education support)?
- What kind of timeline do we want to create for planning our program or educational approach?
- When can we meet with members of the TREE advisory committee to discuss our program?
- Create a to-do list for the team. Who is in charge of coordinating supplies and materials for the program/education? Whom else might we want to notify about our program/event? What kind of media message might we want to share with our local community about what we’re doing?
- In what ways can we communicate our participation in TREE with our broader congregation? Is there a time in the worship service or during announcements that we could share or place an insert in the bulletin? What about choosing a theme for a service, special music, a poem, posters around the building, essay contest, partnering with other churches for a special service, etc.?
- What kinds of evaluation for feedback would be helpful for our program/intervention?
- What kinds of advice or guidance will we want to share with future participating TREE congregations about our experiences planning and implementing our program? What were our strengths and challenges related to making our program happen?
- Decide who wants to create a description and summary of our program/event/education to go in the next TREE resource binder.
Resources from the CDC
The CDC’s 2009 Teen Dating Violence Fact Sheet reports:
- 72% of 8th and 9th graders reportedly “date.”
- 1 in 4 adolescents report verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse from a dating partner each year.
- About 10% of students nationwide report being physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past 12 months.
The CDC’s Spring 2008 Facts at a Glance reports:
- 60.4% of female and 69.2% of male victims were first raped before age 18.
- 25.5% of females were first raped before age 12, and 34.9% were first raped between the ages of 12-17.
- 41.0% of males were first raped before age 12, and 27.9% were first raped between the ages of 12-17.
- A 2005 survey of high school students found that 10.8% of girls and 4.2% of boys from grades 9-12 were forced to have sexual intercourse at some time in their lives.
- The CDC also runs a blog on teen dating violence prevention.
- For more information about the CDC’s work in dating abuse prevention, click here.
Contact the CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
4770 Buford Hwy, NE, MS F-63
Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
800-CDC-INFO
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention
cdcinfo@cdc.gov
10 Things Men Can Do to Prevent Gender Violence
- Approach gender violence as a men’s issue involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. View men not only as perpetrators or possible offenders but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers.
- If a brother, friend, classmate or teammate is abusing his female partner – or is disrespectful or abusive to women in general – don’t look the other way. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to talk to him about it. Urge him to seek help. Or if you don’t know what to do, consult a friend, parent, professor or counselor. DON’T REMAIN SILENT.
- Have the courage to look inward. Question your own attitudes. Don’t be defensive when something you do or say ends up hurting someone else. Try hard to understand how your own attitudes and actions might inadvertently perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them.
- If you suspect that a woman close to you is being abused or has been sexually assaulted, gently ask if you can help.
- If you are emotionally, psychologically, physically or sexually abusive to women, or have been in the past, seek professional help NOW.
- Be an ally to women who are working to end all forms of gender violence. Support the work of campus-based women’s centers. Attend “Take Back the Night” rallies and other public events. Raise money for community-based rape crisis centers and battered women’s shelters. If you belong to a team, fraternity or another student group, organize a fundraiser.
- Recognize and speak out against homophobia and gay-bashing. Discrimination and violence against lesbians and gays are wrong in and of themselves. This abuse also has direct links to sexism (e.g. the sexual orientation of men who speak out against sexism is often questioned, a conscious or unconscious strategy intended to silence them. This is a key reason few men do so).
- Attend programs, take courses, watch films and read articles and books about multicultural masculinities, gender inequality and the root causes of gender violence. Educate yourself and others about how larger social forces affect the conflicts between individual men and women.
- Don’t fund sexism. Refuse to purchase any magazine, rent any video, subscribe to any Web site or buy any music that portrays women in a sexually degrading or abusive manner. Protest sexism in the media.
- Mentor and teach young boys about how to be men in ways that don’t involve degrading or abusing women. Volunteer to work with gender violence prevention programs, including anti-sexist men’s programs. Lead by example.