Stalking Awareness

Students had lots of great ideas about what to do to help a friend in an unhealthy situation.

Bree, Outreach Coordinator, recently presented to the Cheyenne Eagle Butte Junior High students and faculty about stalking awareness.

“We talked to the students about abusive behaviors like jealousy, controlling what someone wears for clothing or makeup, controlling time with friends or demanding social media passwords,” said Bree.

The discussion was aimed at helping students learn the definition of stalking and how to identify these behaviors. The primary emphasis was on Simple Obsession Stalking, which involves two individuals who used to be in a romantic relationship. After the relationship is over, one of the individuals stalks the other.

“Many students responded that they already see this in their school, in junior high relationships,” Bree said. With this in mind, we talked about how they could help their friends who may be in this kind of relationship. Students gave excellent suggestions:

Talk to a school counselor
Let their friend know this is unhealthy
Keep them away from that abusive relationship
Try to distract their friend and cheer them up

Outreach staff shared videos to show examples of Simple Obsession Stalking involving teens so they could see what stalking might look like in their age group. The group also talked about Cyber Stalking, Love Obsession Stalking and Hate Stalking. The students asked a lot of great questions, participated in the discussion and were very respectful.

“We’ve got some really great kids here and I always love getting out to the schools,” Bree said. “We’re working on a plan to work more closely with students in this age group. Our hope is to meet on a weekly basis and help them develop different coping skills. We will get started before the end of the school year.”

To learn more about stalking, visit: http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center/stalking-information

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