VOTE for Statements on Posters – and ADD
Below are statements provided to us by students for an upcoming addition to our current “Do You Ask?” educational poster series. This new addition of posters will be addressing texting, safer dating, and healthier relationships with a PROACTIVE APPROACH (as the “Do You Ask?” posters currently do with consent and sexual decision-making). You are voting on the FINAL 11 Choices.
In the VOTING section below, share your favorite statements (list the # of the statement – such as #21, #99, etc…) and include WHY! You are highly encouraged to ADD additional statements you would like to see on posters. Any words in GREEN FONT below are questions we here at The Date Safe Project Inc are asking YOU TO ANSWER.
Please remember we focus on positive solutions in our mission here at The Date Safe Project Inc.
FYI – all of the below statements came from students in DelRay Beach, Florida and in the Holland, Michigan region (Thanks, Jennifer and Lesley):
- “Just because I CAN contact my partner 24/7, doesn’t mean I have the RIGHT to or should!”
- “If you want to be with me, respect my boundaries. Independence is a priority for me in relationships.”
- “I talk before deciding to commit to a relationship. Knowing each other’s boundaries is FUN and the RIGHT thing to do.”
- “She said her friends & family are an important part of her life. I agree. Plus, having time apart is HEALTHY!”
- “I enjoy time spent with my partner AND with the other special people in my life.”
- Respect is Brave/Bravery (what imagery would you want with this?)
- Loving someone is not the same as having property. You DON’T OWN me!
- I’m not ready for a kid. If you are, find someone else.
- Pressure, control, uncomfortable = not love.
- 2B or not 2B brave enough to speak out against dating violence
- Control is not Love
Place your VOTES below:
True Blood has horrific violent sex scene
On the June 27th episode of HBO’s “True Blood” TV series, the ending sexual scene was extremely violent. The vampire character “Bill” twists the vampire character “Lorena’s” head and neck around as he is forcibly penetrating her. Making the scene equally concerning for many people was the fact the Lorena was smiling throughout the intense scene – while Bill’s character was clearly acting out in VENGEANCE against her.
Did you see the show? What was your reaction? How do you think such imagery could impact viewers?
Apply BP approach on YouTube – to Reducing Sexual Assault
Have you seen all the great YouTube videos providing solutions to the Oil Crisis in the Gulf? Let us take on this same challenge with addressing sexual assault and ending sexual violence.
For every person who provides a true YouTube solution to sexual assault (not a parody or a joke) and shares it with us here at The Date Safe Project Inc, we will put your name (and/or your organization’s name) into a monthly drawing for your choice of the following:
50 “Do You Ask?” POSTERS (you pick how many of each of the 12 posters you want). Preview the fun and educational posters here.
800 “Can I Kiss You?” Temporary Tattoos. Preview the fun and educational posters here.
25 “May I Kiss You?” Books. Preview the critically acclaimed book here.
25 “Voices of Courage” Books. Preview the book and CDs utilized around the world here.
10 “HELP! My Teen Is Dating” DVD/book sets. Preview the award-winning program here.
10 T-shirts: “Can I Kiss You?” (on the front)/ “Do You Ask? Take a Moment to Care” (on the back). Preview shirts here.
10 T-shirts: “Want Some Action?” (on the front) / “Take the Pledge 4 Action” (on the back with 4 guidelines). Preview shirts here.
The GUIDELINES:
Submit your video to YouTube and then share with us the YouTube address for your video in our “COMMENTS” section of this post. Lastly, visit the CONTACT US page on this website to send us your contact information and which submission is yours (all contact information is kept confidential until you give permission to share such information). Another option is to send your video on a DVD and will post the video for you (mail to: The Date Safe Project Inc, c/o YouTube Solutions, PO Box 20906, Greenfield, WI 53220-0906). All appropriate videos (must be standards of a PG / PG-13 movie rating) will be entered into each week’s drawing.
Once a week, you will have a chance to WIN your choice of ONE of the prizes listed above. The sooner you submit a video, the sooner you have a chance to win. Each week’s submissions are ADDED to all the previous submissions.
Example: If you submit a video on June 30th, you will be in the drawing EACH MONTH for the rest of the time this YouTube Challenge is running.
SUBMIT TODAY!!
Opressor vs Bystander. The cruelty in both.
“What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander” ~ Elie Wiesel
What does this quote make you think of? Share examples in our COMMENTS section of situations where you’ve seen people take ACTION on behalf of someone else being oppressed and/or examples of where everyone FAILED to take action. By sharing the success stories, we can help others be inspired to do the same. By examining the failures, we can create solutions for the future.
Leave your examples in our COMMENTS section. I will personally respond to each comment.
Stop blaming girls and their clothes!
In a recent article about a school in England, females are not being allowed to wear skirts as a “safety” precaution. However, Year 11 females ARE ALLOWED to wear skirts. The reasoning by the school is that skirts put the girls in more danger. If so, then why do the Year 11 females get to wear skirts? The school is willing to put the older students in danger on purpose (according to their logic, skirts create danger)?
If they wanted a universal dress code for boys and girls, then the logic makes more sense (not saying we agree or disagree with the logic). However, the “danger” reasoning seems to blame the women INSTEAD of the people who are the DANGER. Who is going to harm the females for wearing skirts? How about the school have consequences for the individuals who are willing to harm females based on the clothes the females choose to wear? Put the responsibility where it belongs – on the person doing the wrong!
The real point of discussion in this case is, “How often do adults mask an issue with a fake excuse – with their own tweens, teens, or with students they teach?? The result? You lose credibility with the person you are making the rule up for.“ Be honest with yourself and the young adults you are teaching.
Share cases of where you or someone who fell into this trap in the “Leave a Comment” section. I will personally respond to each comment and then we will work to create a better solution than what actually occurred.
Let someone know on Black Friday
“Silent gratitude isn’t very much use to anyone.” ~ Gertrude Stein (1874 – 1946)
On this hectic day for many of being “Black Friday” shopping, RUN QUICKLY to someone you need to say, “THANKS” to and tell them!
On Thanksgiving, thanks to YOU
“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.“
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)
As today is Thanksgiving, THANKS to you and all the supporters who work to support our mission – “Asking First” + “Being a Friend” + “Opening a Door.”
Thanksgiving is almost here. Appreciation and Thanks!
“Feeling grateful to or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.” ~ Christiane Northrup, M.D.
As Thanksgiving is upon us here in the USA, what are you grateful for? Who do you appreciate? Share with all of us. Remind us of all the amazing THANKS we owe to others. 
Discover who WAS A FRIEND during the Richmond High School gang rape (sexual assault) of a 15 year old student
In the video below, discover a powerful element the media is not covering much in the Richmond High School gang rape (sexual assault) of a 15 year old student outside the Homecoming Dance. THEN, sign the THANK YOU page below the video.
Click here to say THANK YOU to Raul Rubio and Margarita Vargas!
Sexual assault professionals share and inspire
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)
Professionally, how are you living life? How are you “reaching out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences”? When you face a challenge on your journey to making an impact, where do you look for new sources of inspiration? Do you look to authors, writers, books, and colleagues around the world to provoke thoughts you might not have on your own? For me, sharing with others and reading stirs new conceptual approaches within my mind. Those new approaches take me out of the norm and challenge me to rethink current practices we partake in. This evaluation process helps me personally and us as an organization to continually improve the resources we provide others (“Can I Kiss You?” program, posters, books, DVDs, shirts, and much more).
Professionally, how do you “taste experience to the utmost”? Are you stepping out of your “silo” (office, comfort zone) every day and meeting new people? Are you reaching across the table to the people who may be considered your opponent and then working to build a new alliance with those individuals? Those are the kind of moments which provide you “tasteful experiences” you never forget on a professional level. Best of all, doing so makes you effective in reaching more people and thus results in long lasting impact!
Are you using our online Forums to create relationships with other professionals from around the country – getting you out of your “silo”? The online forms here on our website have been created for you to nurture professional relationships which are centered around sharing and helping each other. You will see they are brand new and so they are WIDE OPEN for you to fill with your questions and ideas. You never know how one moment of sharing may change another professional’s life. As an example of passionate people sharing, we will be posting an exciting story in the coming weeks of students coming together at a conference in 1991 and 18 years later seeing the difference those same individuals are making across the country today.
Share with us the books which have stirred your thoughts and provided you inspiration!
