Anita Roberts of Vancouver has forged 20 years of experience teaching her assault prevention program for teens into this new guide to preventing violence. Safe Teen is written in clear, enjoyable language accessible to teens, parents, and educators. Adolescent-friendly terms (such as “easy house to break into,” “mother bear syndrome,” “bitch,” and “solid guy”) deliver the theories in memorable and evocative ways.
Organized into four sections – heart, mind, spirit, and body – the book includes role plays, exercises, a list of additional resources, and an index. Each section covers its topics thoroughly without repetition, using real life scenarios and question-and-answer analyses. Intensifying the message are highlighted major points in boxes, quotes from past Safe Teen participants, and italicized items throughout the text (such as “When you are feeling angry, chances are you have been violated. Feeling angry is OK. Acting angry can be dangerous.”)
The tiny cartoons sprinkled throughout are evocative, but full-page illustrations and charts might have helped educators who design workshops. The book details a curriculum from which educators can devise mini-lectures and related exercises.
The author has designed the curriculum with profound respect for the challenges confronting adolescent males, while remaining frank about the prevalence of violence against females. The material is sensitive to needs of both bullies and victims, boys and girls. The book and program provide the concepts and practical tools for teens to make safer choices, to change destructive dynamics in relationships, and to be effectively assertive. Safe Teen succeeds in exploring unflinchingly the sensitive and volatile topics of power, gender, sexuality, relationships, intimacy, self-esteem, emotions, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.