As an administrator in the area of student and family support services, Lawrence Shweky has learned about teen dating abuse directly from young people, as well as from many school staff that have expressed concerns about these issues. 

My name is Lawrence Shweky and I am an administrator for the Sacramento City Unified School District in the area of student and family support services. The scope of my work includes district oversight of school counseling, mental health, bullying prevention, suicide prevention, social/emotional learning and other support services.

I have worked with and on behalf of children for over 20 years and have had the opportunity to learn about the issue of teen dating violence directly from young people, as well as from the many school staff that have expressed concerns about these issues.

Teen dating violence is far more prevalent than most people think. A substantial number of dating abuse incidents occur on campus, threatening the safety of students and staff and compromising the school climate. Yet all too often, because most schools do not define dating abuse, prohibit it, or have policies in place to respond, dating abuse incidents are ignored.

Dating abuse is one of the most overlooked forms of violence. But just like any other form of violence, dating abuse can be prevented.

Adopting and implementing dating abuse policies is beneficial and practical for school districts, even in a tough fiscal environment. Model policies to prevent teen dating violence exist, as well as free resources and low-cost measures that have been proven to be effective. 

While California has taken steps to strengthen school responses to peer-to-peer bullying, the Education Code has a serious gap when it comes to dating abuse: it does not define dating abuse, require schools to prohibit it, or ensure that schools have dating abuse policies in place.