Sophomores attend LIFE session on abusive relationships

Students+show+the+red+side+of+their+cards+to+answer+no+to+a+question+asked+by+the+Piece-It-Together+presenters+in+the+Nichols+Auditorium.+The+presenters+used+a+variety+of+techniques+to+explain+abusive+relationships+and+how+to+deal+with+them.

Darren Gu

Students show the red side of their cards to answer no to a question asked by the Piece-It-Together presenters in the Nichols Auditorium. The presenters used a variety of techniques to explain abusive relationships and how to deal with them.

by Vignesh Panchanatham, Reporter

Sophomores attended a LIFE session presented by Piece-It-Together, a local counseling agency, which discussed abusive relationships and how to deal with them, today in the Nichols auditorium.

Piece-It-Together is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to support youth in troubled circumstances with issues relating to mental health. Kristin Smith, Tri Dinh and Jessica Ballin, outreach coordinators at Piece-It-Together gave a presentation on abusive relationships through skits, demonstrations and interactive questions.

“Some think that teen dating violence or dating violence is just about being physical with somebody, but actually it is more about manipulating someone and emotionally injuring them so that they can tear the other person down and control them,” Smith said.

The four types of abuse explained included physical, emotional, sexual and digital abuse. The presenters went through the ten different tactics in relationships used to gain power and control over the other partner. They discussed how one member of a relationship could use social status, isolation, economic abuse and intimidation, among other methods, to control the other partner.

Jane Keller, director of LIFE at the upper school, selected Piece-It-Together to present at Harker for a unique perspective from those who have personally experienced abusive relationships.

“We do have students in our community that have had to deal with serious issues in their lives,” Keller said. “If that fifty minutes helped one student know what to do when someone was crossing a line, then it was fifty minutes well spent. That’s one child that will not have a traumatic experience that will change the course of their development.”

The LIFE session generated mixed opinions from sophomores. Some students found it a helpful use of their time and enjoyed the talk.

“I just had an initial, basic sort of view on this sort of things, but after the LIFE session today, I learned about different kinds of abuse that I hadn’t known before and I learned about the stuff that I knew earlier in more detail,” Nirban Bhatia (10) said. “If in any case, if I feel like I am getting abused or am in any sort of relationship like that, I definitely feel confident reaching out to someone for help and I definitely know what to do in that situation thanks to this LIFE session.”

Others disliked the presentation. One of the issues criticized was the usage of a pen to demonstrate different coercion techniques.

I didn’t really like the assembly today because I felt that it was unorganized,” Derek Kuo (10) said. “I felt that the message could have been more clearly conveyed. I felt like the presenter’s role play of the scenario about the pen was awkward, confusing, and didn’t really convey the right message.”

More information on abusive relationships and other mental health issues can be found on Peace-It-Together’s website.