Every morning, parents send their kids off from home to school. But are schools creating the kinds of healthy environments in hallways and schoolyards that we want for our children? Parents and teachers can play a big role in making sure healthy school environments are a reality in every school and that teen dating violence prevention is included in school policies and practices.
To support schools looking to foster a culture of healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence, Start Strong developed the “School Policy to Increase Student Safety.” This policy toolkit is unique because it offers schools best practices around the prevention of dating violence, as well as guidelines for early intervention and crisis response.

This technical package represents a select group of strategies based on the best available evidence to help communities and states sharpen their focus on prevention activities with the greatest potential to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and its consequences across the lifespan. These strategies include teaching safe and healthy relationship skills; engaging influential adults and peers; disrupting the developmental pathways toward IPV; creating protective environments; strengthening economic supports for families; and supporting survivors to increase safety and lessen harms. The strategies represented in this package include those with a focus on preventing IPV, including teen dating violence (TDV), from happening in the first place or to prevent it from continuing, as well as approaches to lessen the immediate and long-term harms of partner violence. Commitment, cooperation, and leadership from numerous sectors, including public health, education, justice, health care, social services, business and labor, and the government can bring about the successful implementation of this package.