North’s Students for the Second Step club presented a display at the Newton Free Library to  raise awareness on the importance of safety in teen dating,Tuesday, Feb. 4.

Student of The Second Step works in partnership with The Second Step, a local nonprofit working to aid domestic violence survivors. The club, run by officers senior Julia Dun Rapaport, junior Annalise Vito, and senior Leah Ziskin, aids in fundraising and raising awareness in North’s community. 

According to Dun Rapaport, the display included statistics from a Google form sent out by the club regarding teenage relationships, which reported that 65.6 percent of North students know someone who has felt unsafe in a romantic relationship. 

“The display has book recommendations, fliers about red and green flags in relationships, and a QR code that leads to relationship self assessment questions,” Dun Rapaport added.

Domestic violence awareness month is meant to spread awareness about domestic abuse, but also to show teenagers what healthy relationships should look like, which is exactly what the club hopes to accomplish. 

“I am so glad we were able to work with both advocates from the Second Step and some of the Newton Free Library workers to educate our community on teen dating violence and the work we can do to stop it.” Dun Rapaport said.

“The Second Step has partnered with the Students for The Second Step club at Newton North for over five years, working together to raise awareness about teen dating violence and promoting healthy relationships.” said Stacy Karabetsos, a director of prevention education at The Second Step.

Students for the Second Step put on its annual ‘Turn the School Purple Day’, Wednesday, Dec. 4. Ziskin said, “We encourage the school to wear purple to support survivors of domestic abuse. We also have a table during lunch that day to hand out resources and answer questions.” 

The club will be hosting a school wide panel in May addressing dating safety and bringing in professionals.