One in every three teens have experienced domestic abuse of some kind from a boyfriend or girlfriend within the last year according to Liz Claiborne in Teen Dating Abuse. Domestic abuse can occur emotionally, physically, or sexually.   

Millard West High School seniors Lauren Baker, Sarah Betts and Elissa Calpin made it their mission to bring awareness to this issue.

“This is the age people start dating and unfortunately will also bring cases of dating violence,” Caplin said.  

Abusive relationships can have a strong psychological and physical impact on the victims. Symptoms of domestic violence could be a loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy, agitation, change in mood, restless sleep, or chronic pain.

“We are trying to get the word out that it happens more than people think,” Baker said.

The three students decided to pick domestic abuse among relationships for their DECA project because they felt that it is an important topic that needs to be addressed more.

“At first we were unsure because of how big of an issue it is and we didn’t know if we’d do it justice,” Betts said. “After looking more into it and seeing how much it actually occurs we decided we had to do it.”

Monday, October 2nd through Friday, October 6th Baker, Betts and Calpin held events going on everyday to raise awareness.

On Monday, a table was set up with brochures filled with information and resources to get help. Additionally, there was a sheet for people to sign, pledging to help end domestic violence and sexual assault.

Tuesday, 2500 purple ribbons were passed out during Quality Time (QT) to be tied onto students backpacks to support fighting against domestic abuse.

On Wednesday, purple frosted Otis Spunkmeyer cookies were sold outside of the Scratchin’ Post.

On Thursday, a video on domestic abuse was shown to students in QT. The video had hotline numbers for anyone to call to receive help safely.

And on Friday, students wore purple to raise awareness for domestic abuse at the home football game against North Platte. A booth was put out at the game so the local community can also see it.

Students also had the ability to get their photo taken with the hashtag “no excuse for abuse” and be entered in a social media contest to win a prize. Senior Lydia Mike won the prize of a Raising Canes gift card.

“Our plan is to reach out to the people suffering from domestic abuse by helping them safely,” Betts said.

After all, everyone deserves to be treated right. No one should settle for anything else. There is no excuse for abuse.