Advocates say students who learn about domestic violence earlier in their education are more likely to recognize it in their own lives — but many young Texans don't learn about it at school until college.
Leah Carnahan is the Title IX advocate at Texas Christian University. Carnahan leads workshops about domestic abuse and dating violence geared toward college students. She said some college students don’t know they can be victims of domestic violence.
“Oftentimes, if you ask them domestic violence, they have really specific images around someone that's in a marriage or has kids,” she said.
Carnahan also said there’s also a lack of awareness about the different forms of abuse, such as emotional abuse and other unhealthy behaviors that can lead to physical harm. She said that lack of knowledge can be harmful.
Some Texas students learn about the different types of abuse and what constitutes a healthy relationship as early as elementary school. Angela Hicks, the director of elementary school student engagement for the Fort Worth Independent School District, said the district starts it’s abuse prevention training with fourth grade students.
Carnahan said learning about signs of abuse and unhealthy relationships earlier in life makes a difference because it helps students establish healthy relationship habits from a young age.
“It’s harder to change behaviors once you've been acting a certain way or been exposed to certain things, even to change what we accept for ourselves,” Carnahan said.
But Molly Voyles, the public policy director for the Texas Council on Family Violence, said the state doesn’t require school districts to provide that education. And state law mandates that schools who do provide these trainings get parental consent before students participate.
Voyles said requiring parental consent for these trainings is a barrier. She said it leads districts to opt to not provide trainings about abuse and domestic violence to students at all. Even if they do provide the training, children who may benefit the most could be prevented from getting it.
“When you create parental opt ins or opt outs, it's most likely to impact the children with the highest vulnerability,” Voyles said.
Those students are less likely to have the tools to protect themselves from abuse when they get older. Voyles said that’s especially dangerous for young women, who are at the greatest risk of being victims of domestic violence between the ages of 16 and 24. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, female college students are also more likely to experience sexual assault, especially during their first semester.
William West, a prevention manager for the Texas Council on Family Violence, said college is a transition period, which can make people more vulnerable. West said that’s why raising awareness is a key form of prevention.
“There’s so much change happening, and it’s easy to have that change manipulated by someone who's seeking power and control over you,” he said.
Many college campuses have resources to help students experiencing domestic abuse or dating violence, including Title IX advocates like Leah Carnahan at TCU. But Voyles said the best resource to have is education – something she said helps prevent harm.
“We can spend our time responding to violence, or we can spend our time making sure it never happens,” Voyles said.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or get help online at thehotline.org.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For Americacorps member for KERA News.
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