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Austintown teens address dating violence
By christine keeling
austintown
Having healthy relationships is at the heart of the high school’s mentor program.
Members of Austintown Fitch High School’s Students Taking a Responsible Stand, or STARS, visited the district’s middle school Wednesday to teach sixth- through eighth-grade students the importance that self-esteem and good decision-making skills play in positive dating relationships.
The peer-to-peer education program has been used in the district for more than 10 years and is funded through grants.
“We give them as much info as we can so they are prepared to make the right decisions,” said senior Nate Schott.
Schott walked in front of the group of students with his head down and arms crossed and asked if his body language was sending a message.
The group laughed when he suggested he looked as if he had just won the lottery.
A model and a cheerleader were some ideas thrown out by students when asked what STARS members KrystleArndt, Julie Olzak and Julie Larkin did in their free time. The stereotypes were incorrect.
“When you base someone’s personality off of their appearance, it’s not usually right,” Schott warned.
STARS members used animated dialogue, interactive role-playing and humor to engage their audience.
They set up dating scenarios involving mental and verbal abusive and showed the younger students how to stand up for themselves. They also encouraged the students to discuss ways conflict could be avoided.
Communication, they taught, is vital.
“Everyone makes decisions,” said the group’s director, Cindy Smaldino. “And there are consequences to them.”
Having good self-esteem lets children stand up for themselves, she added.
The group purchases books for its members to read, and its topics are structured. Smaldino prohibits the members from having discussions with the younger students that aren’t covered in the training.
Smaldino wants her group to connect with the younger students so they have someone to talk to if they find themselves in need of advice, she said.
“I know they must be connecting,” Smaldino said. “When the younger kids get to high school, they are coming to join.”
The group has more than 50 members and is open to students after their freshman year.
Arndt, who is in her first year in STARS, said she remembered when she was in middle school and watched the program.
“A lot of the information is what our parents told us,” Arndt said. “But, it was easier hearing it from people three or four years older than 30 years older.”
STAR members visit the middle school three times each grading period and stay during all seven periods.
Eighth-grader McKayla Gaus said she thought the skits were fun and that she learned that hitting people is wrong.
STARS members will be back in the school Friday to discuss cyber-, physical, mental and text-bullying. They also are hosting a fundraising event Nov. 13 at the high school.
Beginning at 3 p.m. that day, several teams will take part in a Volley against Violence volleyball tournament. Half the proceeds will benefit the group, and the other half will be used to purchase supplies for Sojourner House in Youngstown, which provides emergency shelter 24 hours a day, seven days a week for women and children escaping an abusive environment.