Watch the students making a strong statement:

Check out the article at:

http://www.wiscnews.com/wde/news/471424

Now picture your teenager alone in an intimate situation on either a date or at a party. We need to be blunt here: sexual dangers are monumental for today’s teenagers. With TV, teen magazines, music, internet pornography, and movies promoting sexual activity among teens, your kids are exposed to images making sexual activity look exciting and even popular. Think of all the kids at school talking about how “far” they went on a date last weekend or even last night.

The pressure for your teen to be more sexual, including engaging in sexual activity, is stronger than ever. With all the talk of sexting, fondling, oral sex, and intercourse among today’s teenagers, how do you protect your daughter or son? You know the old parenting tactics of the past will not work with your children.  Letting them find out on their own is way too dangerous and scary! With parenting magazines and websites typically geared at parents of kids under 10 years old, where do you find advice for talking to you teen? Have you tried talking to your teen about dating, sex, and intimacy? Isn’t it amazing how teenagers don’t believe you can possibly understand the feelings they are going through?

Picture having an in-depth conversation about dating and sex with your teenager and then hearing him or her genuinely say, “Thanks for sharing with me. This was actually fun.” Imagine hearing your son or daughter telling you how (s)he let the guy or girl know how (s)he expects to be treated.  Wouldn’t you be proud knowing your teenager was making safe, positive choices  – thanks to a specific approach you recently discovered?

More and more parents are turning to author, expert, and a fellow parent of teenagers – Mike Domitrz, the Executive Director and Founder of The Date Safe Project Inc. Mike’s experience of speaking in over 70 cities each year to teens, young adults, and their parents enables him to hear directly from BOTH young males and females – ALONG with their parents.  He gets to hear what has worked for families who are successfully addressing these uncomfortable conversations – while also avoiding the frustrations many families and teenagers experience.

You have 3 options for discovering the skills Mike shares with parents:

1. DVD & Book set of HELP! My Teen Is Dating. Real Solutions to Tough Conversations
   Have fun watching the 80 minute award-winning DVD** right in your own home.  Get simple solutions you can use immediately with your teenager.

   **Mike’s DVD titled HELP! My Teen Is Dating. Real Solutions to Tough Conversations was awarded “1 of the 50 Best Books for Families with Teens and Tweens” by www.RadicalParenting.com in 2009. Yes, you read correctly. The DVD is so powerful it received an award for BOOKS!  Get the DVD Now
   

2. Live Workshop of HELP! My Teen Is Dating. Real Solutions to Tough Conversations
   Bring Mike Domitrz to your community for the incredible opportunity to hear him live, ask questions, and get the latest approaches to what is currently working for parents.  Plus, you get the bonus of having him speak to the students in your schools during the day!  Learn more.
   





3. Exclusive Personal Coaching Program
   Get one-on-one phone access to Mike Domitrz and receive 2 “How To” exclusive video updates each month from Mike based on current events and trends.

Mike is not going to fill you up with theory. He is going to provide you nonstop ideas you can implement right away. You will learn

• How to start the talk and get your teen to listen.
• The right time to allow dating.
• Three questions that tell all about your teen’s dating maturity.
• What to say to your teen’s date.
• The exact words for addressing intimacy and boundaries.
• The power in asking first!
• The best way to discuss the dangers from alcohol to sexual assault.
• How to truly “be there’ for your children in potentially dangerous moments.
• BONUS tips to fun and safer dating.

When the issue is teen safety and decision-making, don’t hesitate to get the necessary tools to help protect your teen.  Waiting to have these talks is the one risk you don’t want to take!  Time is of the essence.

http://www.lakenheath.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123192255

Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team
Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Victim Advocate
Court Appointed Special Advocate, Pike’s Peak Region
Depression, Bi-Polar Support Alliance (group facilitator)
Women’s Resource Center (group facilitator)
Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (Speaker’s Bureau)
Sexual Assault and Suicide Attempts (interview)
Sexual Assault as an Antecedent to Suicide (presentation)
Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Pass the Power Adult Literacy Tutor, Saint Joseph, MO
Colorado Springs “Breaking the Silence” DVD, Colorado Springs, CO
Bachelor’s of Social Work, Missouri Western State University, Saint Joseph, MO

Author: Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor’s Story
Listed at National Sexual Violence Resource Center Library
Required reading: Towson University, Criminal Justice


What helped you most through the process of being a strong survivor?
Counseling helped me through the process. I never would have found healing without the compassionate communication with two special therapists at two different times; coincidentally, both are named “Karen.” I’ve also been inspired by the support to survivors via the internet. Even as recently as five years ago, there was no discussion of sexual assault other than in the confines of counseling. Now, support services are readily available. I’ve also used art to gain strength. I learned that I did not have to be an artist with a fully formed product. Art therapy served as healing process. For me, the foundation for strength as a survivor is in therapy.

What are your goals?
My goals have a back-story: When I was in my twenties, my therapist told me I had a story of hope to tell, and that I should write it. She knew only half of it! At the time, there were few, if any, books about surviving drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide attempts. I was a real estate agent and every day I felt unfulfilled, as if I was not living my truth. In my forties, the truth came to me in a drawing. I was sketching sunflowers when my hand wrote, “My brother molested me.” When I acknowledged the phrase within the shape, I rewrote it: “I was molested by my brother.” At the time, the words that reflect the acts, such as incest, rape, sexual assault, child abuse, sexual abuse, were way too scary. At age forty-three, I was telling my self for the first time. I entered therapy again, and disclosed the experiences of sexual assault by my father and brother. I learned how the drug and alcohol abuse, as well as suicide attempts, were related to sexual abuse. I was becoming an agent of change for my self. My second counselor, two decades from the first therapist, told me I had a story of healing to share. However, I was not going to use those terrible words or put my experiences in writing.

I went back to college to earn a degree in social work. I wanted knowledge about the dynamics that perpetuate sexual violence in our society. Then, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age forty-eight. The doctors said that if I did nothing about the cancer, I would have six months to seek treatment that might be effective. While enduring chemo “therapy” and multiple surgeries, I wrote my story and decided to publish it, even if it’s “the last thing I do.” The irony is that two decades earlier I was taking my life, then I was fighting for my life! When one person tells me that my story has helped him or her, I finally feel fulfilled.

Now my goals are to use my story to be an agent of change in society. I have started the Project for TEARS: Telling Everyone About Rape & Suicide.

The mission is to:

• Comfort victims by sharing my story
• Confront violence by breaking the silence
• Challenge society via information & action

My goal is to establish this project as a non-profit that reaches a wide audience.

On February 15, 2010, I gave personal testimony to Colorado State Senators related to an amendment to a bill about child abuse. I was able to represent the survivors who cannot speak of crimes until later in life. I used those awful words, and put a face to them. My goal is to continue to speak out with more courage and confidence.

What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite books are those that literally changed my life: The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse by Ellen Bass & Laura Davis and The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.

What is your favorite movie?
My favorite movie is a music video: We Are the World 25. It’s great how the producers incorporated updated music and a documentary on Haiti. I’m old enough to have seen the initial airing of We Are the World, which was produced as an AIDS benefit in 1985.

What is a fun fact?
Fashionista! Out of the flannel and into the silk! Out of the sweats and on with the shimmer! Clothe me in bohemian-chic! Adorn me with rock-star sequins and beads! Wrap me in scarves, top me with hats, circle me in bracelets and rings!

In fact, today you are hearing more new stories from school systems and communities across the country involving teenage sexually transmitted diseases and infections.  Plus, research is showing sexual activity is occurring at much younger ages.

As a parent, how can YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE?  Work with your local school administrators to bring an interactive and educational program with long-lasting impact for your students.  Bring in a program which does more than “Raise Awareness” – find a presentation which gives students precise skills they can immediately use in their lives. When leaders and educators see parents taking an active role in wanting a specific program for their students, many educators and administrators feel more comfortable moving forward and taking the needed action to bring the program to the school.

One of the most sought after experts in the country for providing these necessary skills to teenagers is Mike Domitrz, the Executive Director of The Date Safe Project Inc. and the author of HELP! My Teen Is Dating.  His one-person show for students titled “Can I Kiss You?” is praised by parents, educators, administrators, and TEENAGERS!  Unlike many experts who lecture students toward one specific agenda, Domitrz opens students’ minds to making better choices for themselves, their friends, and any potential future dating partners.  Because of this unique approach, the “Can I Kiss You?” program is supported by parents on both sides of the heated debate between “Abstinence-Only Education” vs “Comprehensive Sex Ed” taking place in many communities.

Bring this one-of-a-kind General Assembly to your school, students, and community.
Click here for more information.

The crowd was fantastic and the feedback afterward was greatly appreciated. Thanks, everyone, for a truly one-of-a-kind evening.  Watch the video below to see their response.

Earlier in the afternoon, we had a “Train the Trainer” workshop with Peer Educators, Resident Assistants, and some professional staff. An interesting question arose.   A staff member asked (paraphrase), “While what you are teaching is ideal, we can’t really expect it, can we?“  The answer is, “Absolutely YES we can.  The moment we don’t expect people to ‘do the right thing’, we have given up on the humanity side of human beings.  Our job is to teach them HOW to do the right thing and make it so logical that they WANT to do the right thing.   By the way, most people WANT to do the right thing already.  They simply don’t think they have the tools and/or skills to do so.“

Overwhelming, the students agreed.  After the session, they told me how students do what to make the best choice.  They usually don’t make the best choice because of someone illogical fear they possess.  If we take away the fear, we empower them to make better choices.  Who can you help give the right skills to today?

Never give up on your mission to create positive change!

The campus has a close relationship between Greek Life and the Women’s Resource Center (not a relationship you see at every campus).  The staff of the Women’s Resource Center was out in full support of the program tonight.  Getting to meet all of these passionate individuals and the head of the BACCHUS GAMMA group on campus (in addition to being the head of Peer Education) was greatly appreciated.

Watch their high energy and fun video below.

When I woke up on the day of my birthday, nothing felt different (and never did I expect it to). After all, a day only feels bad when you’ve let yourself down or experienced loss. A day feels FANTASTIC when

• You’ve made a positive impact or put in effort to do so.
• Watched your loved ones experience joy or success.
• Know you helped improve another person’s day (puts you back at “made a positive impact“).

When you get to make a positive impact by helping your loved ones experience joy, that day feels especially wonderful. Thus, the magic of parenting and/or mentoring.  For me, I wake up expecting a fantastic day each day.

What will you do today to give reason to celebrate? Who will you impact in the greatest of ways?  Will you do so through the work you do for a living or through time you will put in outside of work?  Will you do so by the time you spend with your children or through time spent with someone you mentor?  After all, every day is a birthday (whether it is 14,600 days since your birth or 27,375 days since your birth).  This year, you have 365 more days to create amazing experiences.  How will you create a plan each day to have a moment before bedtime to reflect and know you’ll be able to say, “Today, I had a fantastic day because . . .?“

If you have a system, share with us by “Leaving a Comment” on this post.  In our efforts to create change through Asking First, Being a Friend, and Opening a Door, we LOVE to hear life approaches others have found to be productive and rewarding.  By sharing with us today, you will have insured you have an “Aha” moment to reflect on at the end of today – because you will have helped others.

P.S. A “Shout Out” goes to my family who threw a nice, intimate, and really fun “Surprise Party” for me.  The joy of the party came in spending time with people I love and knowing we were all having fun together.   For my wife and sons who spent some “ice cream” time with me yesterday before I had to fly out, THANKS.  You are the best!  

Yes, which birthday I had is not revealed in this post on purpose.  After all, does it change anything?  Now, the day I have TODAY (and beyond) could and SHOULD produce change.