<p>For the past four years, a group of middle school students has had a mission to raise awareness about key issues that impact their peers, such as bullying or forming healthy relationships.</p>
<p>The group of about 25 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students called Teens for Change mert monthly at Greenwood Middle School and plan campaigns and events to bring attention to those issues. Their posters and signs can be seen around the school in October, which is domestic violence awareness month, February, teen dating violence prevention awareness month, and April, which is sexual assault awareness month.</p>
<p>Last week, the students recognized Denim Day, a day of awareness about sexual assault. During several lunch periods, the students distributed papers at all lunch tables with conversation starters about topics including healthy boundaries in relationships and bullying. Then they talked with their peers about these issues.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>For students involved with the group, their hope is that they are helping their fellow students with difficult issues.</p>
<p>Madison Ramsey, an eighth-grade student at the middle school, said that for many of her fellow students, having these conversations with friends their age is often easier than bringing it up with an adult.</p>
<p>“A lot of kids may not realize they are in an unhealthy relationship and this might help them recognize that,” Ramsey said.</p>
<p>Scott Coryell, an eighth grade student, said he joined Teens for Change because of his own experiences in seeing a mother and aunt both be trapped in abusive relationships.</p>
<p>“It tears me up inside,” he said.</p>
<p>He’s seen first-hand the issues those situation has caused, and he wants his fellow students to know that they have a way out of those situations.</p>
<p>“I know people who could use that encouragement,” he said.</p>
<p>Beginning discussions about what types of behaviors are and aren’t appropriate in relationships is essential for young teenagers, especially as they approach the age where they may start dating, said Nicole Emerson, the community services director for Turning Point Domestic Violence Services.</p>
<p>The nonprofit assists people in getting out of unhealthy relationships and has provided materials and information for the students as they plan their outreach efforts. The school partnered with Turning Point about eight years ago. Karen Begley, who teaches family and consumer sciences at the middle school, uses curriculum from Turning Point to teach students about how to have healthy relationships.</p>
<p>A key part of Teens for Change’s work and other outreach is helping students identify behaviors that aren’t normal, healthy or safe in a relationship, such as controlling behavior, physical abuse or emotional abuse, Emerson said.</p>
<p>Greenwood Middle School Principal Chris Sutton said he’s noticed a difference in recent years in how kids talk about relationship issues. He’s taught for more than 20 years, and just recently students will come to staff to seek help about themselves or a friend being in an unhealthy relationship.</p>
<p>In Greenwood, the middle school is the first place that students from across the community attend classes in the same building, as children from all of the district’s elementary schools move on to the middle school, Sutton said. The result is an explosion of new relationships, along with the need to appropriately manage those new experiences, he said.</p>
