IPS Approves New Teen Dating Abuse Policy

Carter Barrett

Indianapolis Public Schools board commissioners approved a measure to add teen-dating abuse guidelines into district policy, Thursday night.

Now, every middle and high school in the IPS district will have a Teen Dating Abuse Advocate to be a primary contact for students. Student organizer Maria De Leon says IPS must ensure this new policy reaches students.

"And as an IPS alumnus, I want to continue engaging with IPS by helping to generate these ideas on how we can make this policy be known to students and not make this policy, you know, just another set of guidelines in the handbook," De Leon says.

According to Centers for Disease Control data, 10 percent of Indiana's teens have experienced physical dating violence, and 12.6 percent have experienced sexual dating violence.

De Leon, in conjunction with leaders from the Indianapolis Domestic Violence Network, has been working on changing IPS policy since December 2017.

Tags:Indianapolis Public Schools Indianapolis Public Schools Board

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