On Wednesday, January 29, parents and teens had the opportunity to openly and frankly discuss an issue that affects teens every day. The subject was dating violence, and the people involved presented very passionately about the all too true dangers that many teens encounter because of it.
The Amanda Forum was started in memory of Amanda Bach, the young girl who lost her life in 2011, due to relationship related violence. The three-night event was designed to help raise awareness of such issues to avoid further tragedies.
“Our goal is to empower kids through discussion, service, and activism. In this Digital Age, it is critical to cause social innovation for creating healthy relationships,” said Denise Koebcke, the Youth Dating Violence Prevention Coordinator at the Caring Place. “We want to raise awareness of negative social norms in relationships and provide the kids with pro-social skills.”
The keynote speaker was Dr. Malcolm Astley. In the summer of 2011, Dr. Astley lost his daughter to a similar tragedy as Amanda Bach. He has taken the mission of raising awareness of the abuse that can occur in relationships. By doing so, he hopes that further tragedies can be prevented.
During his presentation, Dr. Astley compared the subject of teen relationship abuse to that of other social injustices that have taken place in history. Dr. Astley informed the crowd that mankind has solved other atrocities and that this one can be stopped as well.
After Dr. Astley’s heartfelt and informative speech, the room opened up for discussion. Teens and parents alike had the opportunity to voice their concerns and thoughts on what can be done to solve this very sobering dilemma.
“It’s good to see different generations and groups here tonight. It’s by coming together that you will see results,” said Astley. “There is a community strength here that provides hope for a very serious problem.”
The Amanda Forum concluded with everyone having the chance to write down any other questions they may have had and what they had learned that night. This was done to help facilitate future meetings. By the great deal of notes on the board, it was clear that the community learned a lot about a very serious problem.