In January, The Women’s Center launched a brand new Instagram account specifically for teens. CONVO – which stands for Creating Opportunity for Non-Violent Outcomes – is a page designed to make violence prevention engaging and accessible.
As the violence prevention advocate, my job often involves going into classrooms to present on healthy relationships, consent, boundaries, and other related topics. Each class period I give one presentation, typically to a freshman health class; after that, I likely never interact with that group of kids again. With this dilemma in mind, I wanted to find a way to make the information stick and to keep students connected to TWC. As the name suggests, the goal of CONVO is to keep violence prevention conversations going beyond in-school presentations. Teens may not always feel comfortable asking an adult for help, but many of them are already on Instagram. CONVO is an easy first stop for students to find resources and support.
Each month the page will feature educational content tied to a theme, and we kicked off the new year with the topic of healthy friendships. Since February is Teen Dating Violence (TDV) Awareness Month, this month’s lineup includes TDV statistics, warning signs, and ways to help a friend in an abusive relationship. I have big plans for this year’s upcoming content, and I’m excited to see what happens as the platform grows.
As we continue to promote TWC offerings and keep students thinking about violence prevention, CONVO will allow us to build deeper relationships with the students we’re already seeing and empower them to advocate for themselves and for cultural change. If teens can change the conversation around relationships and consent, they can help make the world a safer, healthier place. Tell the teens in your life to follow us on Instagram (@twc_convo) and join the conversation!