10% Program
Discount:
Aim For Success offers a 10% discount off our program fee for parent and student programs scheduled for presentations in April. A few program dates are still available, call Windi Fuller at 972-422-2322 ext 223 or email her at today to schedule your program. |
Upcoming Aim For Success Program Locations
January 2010
Addison, TX
Allen, TX
Dallas, TX
De Kalb, TX
Fairfield, tX
Firsco, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Garland, TX
Grand Prairie, TX
Houston, TX
La Vernia, TX
Llano, TX
Madisonville, TX
Needville, TX
New Boston, TX
Red Oak, TX
Rhome, TX
San Benito, TX
February 2010
Allen, TX
Argyle, TX
Arlington, TX
Bloomburg, TX
Corpus Christi, TX
Dallas, TX
Flower Mound, TX
Frisco, TX
Hallettsville, TX
Houston, TX
Llano, TX
Mt. Pleasant, TX
Mt. Vernon, TX
Parker, TX
Portland, TX
Richardson, TX
Round Rock, TX
Sugar Land, TX
Tulsa, OK
Wylie, TX
March 2010
Abilene, TX
Argyle, TX
Brazoria, TX
Clarendon, TX
Coppell, TX
Ferris, TX
Ferris, TX
Grapevine, TX
Hebbronville, TX
Henrietta, TX
McKinney, TX
Memphis, TN
Midlothian, TX
Murphy, TX
Quinlan, TX
Rockdale, TX
San Antonio, TX
Southlake, TX
Tyler, TX
West Columbia, TX
Winnie, TX
April 2010
Como, TX
Dallas, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Frisco, TX
Grapevine, TX
Greenwood, MS
Gustine, TX
Houston, TX
Katy, TX
Mobile, AL
Plano, TX
Rockwall, TX
Sealy, TX
Wylie, TX
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| Greetings!
Next week, February 1-5, 2010 is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week.
This is an excellent opportunity for parents to help their children identify the warning signs of Teen Dating Violence. Please don't think this couldn't happen to your child, because statistics show 1 out of 5 teens will be a victim of Teen Dating Violence.
All student programs presented by Aim For Success  include information on Teen Dating Violence. However, our Freedom To Succeed program, which discusses the legal reasons to abstain, dedicates a large section of the program to Teen Dating Violence.
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Melissa's Story
I first met my abuser when I was sixteen... At first he began innocently asking where I was going. That soon changed to him becoming controlling and jealous, demanding to know where I was and whom I was with. My parents and friends were more annoyed than I was. They saw it as a warning sign; I saw it as someone who cared about me. As his behavior began to get worse I knew that it was not appropriate, but I did not see it has harmful... I still felt completely in control.
The next stage was worse, not only for me but for those who loved me and cared about me. They were losing me. My abuser had started to build a fence around me. He would embarrass me in front of my family and friends and foolishly I would defend him.
He began to ruin my special occasions. He did not want to go to my prom and he didn't want me to go. I went anyway and tried to have a good time. Then he showed up at the door, threatened my date and I left the prom with my abuser. My high school graduation was one of the worst days of my life. I spent the night before graduation at a party with friends. The next morning I was feeling great as I began to get ready for my special day. Then he called me; he was screaming so loud my mother could hear his voice through the phone. "Where did you go last night? I never told you that you could go out. I hate you, you're a liar." I was embarrassed. My parents and I fought. How could he ruin another day for me?
His controlling behavior progressed throughout the summer. By the end of the summer the relationship with my parents was ruined and I almost never saw my friends. He had convinced me that everyone was against us. I didn't have anyone to turn to ... my abuser had successfully isolated me.
I turned seventeen and started college in the fall. Three days after school began I moved out of my house and in to an apartment with him. My parents were disappointed and my friends thought I was absolutely crazy. Within three weeks of moving in together, he successfully kept me from being able to attend school. He would take the car when I needed to go class. I would set the alarm for my morning classes and he would turn the alarm off. When he picked me up at school, he would create a scene in the parking lot. It was not worth the effort to continue going to class.
I remember the first time he hit me. We had enjoyed a great day together and he suggested we stop by a party that my friends were having... Once at the party I went over to a male friend of mine and nudged him with my elbow. My abuser went crazy. He grabbed my arm and started yelling at me in front of everyone. He called me names and slapped my face. Before I could feel the pain or the embarrassment, I experienced shock. I didn't know what to do. I just sat on the couch and stared. I wanted to die.
The arguments and the physical abuse escalated. I was working as a waitress and ... a male customer who frequented the restaurant brought me a book. In the car on the way home my abuser went ballistic because he felt that a man shouldn't be bringing me a book... Once home he kept me up all night and beat me. That was the day I knew I had no control. That was the first day I feared for my life...
A few months later, after continued abuse, I found out that I was pregnant. I was horrified. How could I bring up a baby living like this? No matter where I was or what I did, I was unsafe... I think part of my mindset during my pregnancy was that he couldn't feel this baby like I could. I hoped that once she was born, he would love her like I did. I thought his violence would stop.
I turned 18 and three weeks later my daughter was born. Peace lasted only a week. He was jealous of the time I spent with her. One night ... he smashed his head against mine while I was holding her... A few weeks later my father offered to take the baby overnight to give me a break. I came home from work and my abuser kept me up all night accusing me of outrageous things and making the worst threats I had ever heard. I couldn't take one more night of this. As soon as my father brought my daughter back to me, I said what I had needed to say for so long, "I want to come home."
It's not easy to cut ties with someone, especially someone who controls and intimidates you, but it can be done. In order to keep my daughter and me safe, I have an order of protection against him... I still carry some type of fear with me and I always will, but I am free. I have safety. It is something that I may have taken for granted before all this happened. Before I met my abuser, I would never have thought that a young woman, from an upper-middle class family, could find herself in such a situation. I did not see myself as a potential victim of domestic violence. Anyone can become a victim, including teenagers. It is imperative that we recognize the need to openly discuss the seriousness of this crime.
Melissa was the recipient of the Governor's Courage Award to End Domestic Violence in New York. Click here to see her entire story.
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Identifying Teen Dating Violence
Teen Dating Violence is defined as controlling abusive behavior between two young people who are romantically involved. It can include verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse. A victim of teen dating violence can be a girl or a guy. When boys are abusive, they are more likely to cause severe bodily harm - broken bones, strangling or using a weapon. When girls are abusive they tend to yell, slap, scratch, bite or slug. Girls often threaten to hurt themselves if they don't get what they want in the relationship.
Dating violence usually starts when the controlling person:
- Wants to know where you are and who you're with at all times
- Does not want you having friends or hanging out with others
- Is extremely jealous and possessive
This person will tend to:
- Put you down, insult or intimidate you
- Threaten you
- Be violent - including hitting, slapping, slugging, kicking, biting, strangling
- Have uncontrollable outbursts of anger
- Blame you for their outbursts of anger
- Brag about hurting and abusing others
- Use drugs and alcohol and want you to use drugs and alcohol
- Pressure you for sex
If you're in an abusive relationship you might feel:
- Humiliated
- Fear
- Anxious
- Confused
- Depressed
- Degraded
If you stay in the relationship you could:
- Lose your ability to think for yourself
- Suffer from severe depression
- Become injured - bruises, broken bones or even die
- Begin to have suicidal thoughts
If you're in an abusive relationship:
- Understand this is not your fault!
- Don't try to change the person abusing you. They will not change!
- Do not assume the relationship will get better - it won't!
- Seek help from caring adults - your parents, teachers, school counselor
- Be honest when talking about the abuse. Don't make excuses for the person, don't down play what's happening, tell it like it is!
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Small School Special
A great big thank you to all the generous donors who gave to the Small School Special last month. As a result of their generosity, Aim For Success raised over $46,000 to help small schools be able to afford our programs. To learn more about the Small School Special, please click here.
Schedule your Spring Programs now while space is available . . . | |
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