Got The Time?

You can take action in different ways whether you have one day, one week or one month. Read below to read about different ways to get involved. Or visit our Take Action page for other ideas.

One Day

Do some outreach.

• Set up a table in a busy spot at school, such as outside the cafeteria during lunch. Distribute Break the Cycle informational handouts found throughout our website. Hand out help cards to students (use business card template Avery #8371 for printing).

Create a collage about teen dating violence.

• Gather and print teen dating violence information sheets and facts and arrange them on a large piece of poster board.
• Contact student government to find out how to reserve or use a wall.
• Put the poster on the wall, making sure students know to visit thesafespace.org if they need help.

Write a letter to a school administrator.

• Write to your superintendent, principal or vice-principal about why you think teen dating violence is an important issue that needs to be addressed at your school.
• Include important facts and statistics and ways they could help.

Create awareness armbands.

• Buy purple (purple is the color for domestic violence) construction paper or ask the art department at school if they have some you can use.
• Cut out strips of the paper and pass out to students, explaining the purpose of the band. Make sure to have a stapler on hand so students can staple the ends of the paper together to make a bracelet.

Write an opinion piece (Op-Ed).

• Contact your student newspaper to find out how to put an Op-Ed into the next edition.
• Write a short piece speaking out against teen dating violence and encourage your peers to learn more and get involved.
• Add your name and contact information at the bottom if you want students to know they can approach you for information on teen dating violence and resources for help.

One Week

Create a resource list.

• Compile a list of local resources where teens who are experiencing dating violence can go to for help.
• Include thesafespace.org so people know where to get help.
• Get permission from the administration or student government to post the resource sheet all around school, especially in bathrooms and counseling offices.

Distribute an online pledge.

• With the help of email, start an online pledge called “Teen Dating Violence is Not for Me.”
• Send it to your friends to sign and ask them to forward it to others.
• Once you’ve collected lots of names, send it to Break the Cycle to showcase on thesafespace.org.

Organize a rally.

• Check with the principal, vice-principal or student government to find out if, when and where, it’s ok to have a rally.
• Invite the school paper to do a story on the rally and take photos for the school paper.
• Create signs with dating violence facts in large print and have your friends hold them up during the rally.
• Create an information sheet about teen dating violence using the resources on thesafespace.org and hand out to those who attend.
• If you have a megaphone or microphone, read off some of the facts and information from your sheet and tell your peers why teen dating violence is not ok. Recruit others to speak out as well.
• Encourage attendees to get involved with Speak.Act.Change

Create dating violence awareness t-shirts.

• Hold a fundraiser like a bake sale or a car wash to raise money.
• Pick a date to have your fundraiser. Make sure to advertise with flyers or an announcement over the loudspeaker.
• Using the money you made, make some t-shirts. Create them online or buy iron-on print paper. Use catchy and important phrases such as “One Victim is One too Many,” or “Stop Dating Violence Now.”
• Sell your t-shirts at lunchtime to students at your school. Donate the money to a domestic violence shelter in your area or to Break the Cycle.

One Month

Organize an open-mic.

• Contact local coffee shops and ask if they’ll host an open-mic around the theme of stopping dating violence and building healthy relationships.
• Once you have the date, contact the school paper and find out how to advertise the event.
• Recruit friends, peers and local artists to be a part of the open-mic session. Post flyers and announcements at school and in your community.
• At the event, distribute information about dating violence. Take photos. Share them with Break the Cycle and post them online.

Set up an assembly.

• Talk to your school principal, vice principal or student government to find out the steps to setting up an assembly.
• Team up with a health, social science or just one of your favorite teachers to put the event together.
• Contact local organizations such as a shelter or domestic violence outreach or prevention program and ask if they are interested in speaking at your school’s assembly. Try to secure at least 3 people.
• Post information about the assembly in your student newspaper and speak to an administrator to find out if it can make attendance a requirement.
• At the assembly, distribute information about dating violence and pamphlets from the participating organizations.

Volunteer your time.

• Do some research on domestic violence organizations in your community.
• Decide which are most interesting to you. Visit their website or call them to find out if they have volunteer opportunities.
• Once you start, volunteer your heart out and show them that you care and that you want to make a difference.
• There are ways you can volunteer with Break the Cycle too, regardless of where you live. Visit our Join Us page to find out how.