DVIS taking the message of preventing abuse to students

Itâ€™s a frightening statistic, more than 19% of Oklahoma ninth graders admit that a boyfriend or girlfriend has hit, slapped or otherwise hurt them. <br><br>Thatâ€™s whatâ€™s behind the efforts of Tulsaâ€™s

Tuesday, March 5th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Itâ€™s a frightening statistic, more than 19% of Oklahoma ninth graders admit that a boyfriend or girlfriend has hit, slapped or otherwise hurt them.

Thatâ€™s whatâ€™s behind the efforts of Tulsaâ€™s Domestic Violence Intervention Service to lower those numbers. A DVIS volunteer told Broken Arrow High School students Tuesday she was abused when she was their age. "This is definitely something that need to be covered. 50-minutes in a whole lifetime is not enough to cover it. They learn about Algebra, English but they need to learn about life too, because the rest of their life will affect their relationships."

DVIS hopes to alert teens to the signs of abusive relationships and teach them how to boost their own self-esteem.