The TeenCAP program is a comprehensive child assault prevention program designed to teach adolescents
how to prevent:
- Verbal, Physical and Emotional Abuse
- Sexual Abuse and Assault
Teen CAP Workshop
Taught in one-hour sessions over two or three consecutive days, TeenCAP is an empowerment program that teaches adolescents about their right to be “Safe, Strong and Free” and provides them with skills to deal with potentially dangerous situations. Highlights of the TeenCAP workshop include:
- Explaining how gender stereotypes contribute to an individual’s vulnerability
- Discussing other types of abuse, such domestic violence and dating violence, as well as sexual harassment
- Teaching how verbal abuse often leads to physical violence
- Explaining the difference between passive-aggressive behavior and assertive behavior
- Introducing the topics of racism, sexism and homophobia to help teens understand the need for tolerance
- Challenging teens to take a stand against all types of violence
- Encouraging youth to respect themselves and the rights of others
- Teaching teens skills to avoid violence – skills such as impulse control, anger management, empathy and assertiveness
Throughout the workshops, facilitators teach the students how to assert themselves, seek out peer support and identify adults they can trust and go to for help. Our goal is to help them problem solve in dangerous situations without becoming abusive in the process. When children and youth learn skills to prevent their own victimization, they also obtain the knowledge to avoid becoming future offenders.
At the conclusion of the workshop, facilitators review the lessons and invite the teens to ask questions or voice any concerns. During that time, a student may disclose information regarding an unsafe personal situation. Should a teen divulge abuse, we would take the necessary steps to report that information to the school officials and to the appropriate authorities. We want to make sure everything possible is done to help and protect that individual.
