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68–183 PDF 2011

S. HRG. 112–97 

PREVENTING TEEN VIOLENCE: STRATEGIES FOR 

PROTECTING TEENS FROM DATING VIOLENCE 

AND BULLYING 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME AND TERRORISM 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JUNE 3, 2011 

Pawtucket, Rhode Island 

Serial No. J–112–25 

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

CHUCK SCHUMER, New York 

DICK DURBIN, Illinois 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

JON KYL, Arizona 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

KOLAN DAVIS, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME AND TERRORISM

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island, Chairman 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

DICK DURBIN, Illinois 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

JON KYL, Arizona 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

STEPHEN LILLEY, Democratic Chief Counsel 

STEPHEN HIGGINS, Republican Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Page 

Whitehouse, Sheldon, a U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island ............... 1 

WITNESSES 

Burke, Ann, President, Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund, North 

Kingstown, Rhode Island ..................................................................................... 3 

Debare, Deborah, Executive Director, Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Warwick, Rhode Island .................................................................. 6 

Reilly, Kate, Director, Start Strong, Sojourner House, Providence, Rhode Island ........................................................................................................................ 8 

Zakarin, Ruth, Executive Director, Katie Brown Educational Program, Fall 

River, Massachusetts ........................................................................................... 10 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Burke, Ann, President, Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund, North 

Kingstown, Rhode Island, statement .................................................................. 21 

Debare, Deborah, Executive Director, Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Warwick, Rhode Island, statement ............................................... 27 

Reilly, Kate, Director, Start Strong, Sojourner House, Providence, Rhode Island, statement .................................................................................................... 38 

Zakarin, Ruth, Executive Director, Katie Brown Educational Program, Fall 

River, Massachusetts, statement ........................................................................ 41 

ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Submissions for the record not printed due to voluminous nature, previously 

printed by an agency of the Federal Government, or other criteria determined by the Committee: 

Library of Congress, Teen Dating Violence: An Annotated Bibliography, Priscilla Offenhauer, Researcher, and Alice Buchalter, Project Manager, a Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under 

an Interagency Agreement with the Violence and Victimization Research 

Division, National Institute of Justice, April 2011 

(1) 

PREVENTING TEEN VIOLENCE: STRATEGIES 

FOR PROTECTING TEENS FROM DATING VIOLENCE AND BULLYING 

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME AND TERRORISM, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:40 p.m., William 

E. Tolman Senior High School, 150 Exchange Street, Pawtucket, 

Rhode Island, Hon. Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

Present: Senator Whitehouse. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, CHAIRMAN 

OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. I want to thank you, Principal Silva. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And I want to thank the administration 

and the teachers and the students of Tolman High for having us 

here this afternoon. 

We have some significant guests who are with us and I wanted 

to recognize them. I believe that Attorney General Kilmartin will 

be coming, but in the meantime, the Department of Attorney General is represented here by the Deputy Attorney General, my 

former deputy when I was attorney general, Jerry Coyne. So please 

welcome Jerry. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. We have Senator Bea Lanzi, who is the 

sponsor of the Lindsay Ann Burke Act, which passed in Rhode Island and which we will hear more about during the testimony. She 

is also a member of the State Cyber-Bullying Task Force that is 

run by Senator John Tassoni. 

Representative Eileen Naughton will be joining us. She is the 

House sponsor of the Lindsay Ann Burke Act. She is currently 

working with our State Department of Health on children and teen 

issues, including dating violence. 

Representative Grace Diaz is here, as well. And if you could give 

a hand for our legislative leaders who are here with us. 

[Applause.] 

2 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. I am told that the mayor will be here, but 

he is not here at the moment. In the meantime, he is represented 

by our new police chief here in Pawtucket, Paul King. 

Chief King, thank you very much for being here. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And from the school side of things, we 

have my friend, Ray Spooner, the Chairman of the Pawtucket 

School Committee, and, of course, your principal, Fred Silva. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. So this afternoon’s field hearing of the 

Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which I am the Chairman of, considers a topic that is extremely important to Rhode Island families—preventing teen violence, strategies for protecting teens from dating violence and from 

bullying. 

For the students in the audience, a hearing, a Senate hearing 

like this is a formal opportunity for Congress to learn more about 

an issue. The testimony of our witnesses today becomes part of our 

Nation’s official legislative record and it provides valuable guidance 

to Congress as we work on our Nation’s laws. 

Today’s hearing is an important step towards learning how to 

better protect our Nation’s teens from violence. 

Our setting provides a very appropriate forum for studying and 

learning about effective tools to reduce dating violence and bullying. 

These are extremely important topics. According to the Center 

for Disease Control, one in 10 teens reports being hit or physically 

hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend at least once in the 

past year. 

Teen violence can take other forms, as well. Each year, one in 

every four adolescents reports verbal, physical, emotional or sexual 

abuse from a dating partner. 

As we will hear from our witnesses and as many in the audience 

know, these are not mere statistics. Every victim is someone’s child 

or sibling, someone’s friend or classmate. 

There is a close relationship between dating violence and bullying. Those who bully their classmates in elementary and middle 

school may be more likely to become violent when they enter relationships. What can seem to be simple bullying or name-calling 

early in a relationship can escalate to more serious violence, including assault. 

New technologies, such as smart phones and social networking 

sites, also have created new avenues for dating violence and bullying. Abusive messages posted on a Website can quickly reach a 

broad audience and be difficult to get rid of. 

Rhode Island has been at the forefront of efforts to prevent and 

respond to teen dating violence. Through the hard work of organizations, including the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Lindsay Ann Burke Foundation, the Katie Brown Educational Program, and the Safe Start Program at the Sojourner 

House, as well as the close cooperation of law enforcement officers, 

teachers, parents and community members, Rhode Islanders have 

led the Nation in developing innovative programs to promote 

strong and safe relationships. And Rhode Island’s Lindsay Ann 

3 

Burke Act has become a model to other states in addressing teen 

violence. 

We are joined today by a talented and accomplished group of 

leaders from our State who will share their experience and wisdom 

on this important topic. 

I believe this afternoon’s hearing will be particularly important 

as Congress turns to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women 

Act later this year. That law has done so much to protect victims 

of violence in Rhode Island and across the country. We will also be, 

I hope, taking up a new education bill in the Health Committee, 

which may provide, also, a vehicle for considering legislation in this 

area. 

I look forward to working with my Republican and Democratic 

colleagues to make sure that Rhode Island’s voice is heard as Congress works to protect families and prevent teen violence. 

I see that Mayor Grebien has arrived. You were recognized earlier before you got here, Don, and the kids all cheered for Paul 

King in your stead. But perhaps if you would stand up, they would 

give you a cheer, as well. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. So, now, one of the things that we do in 

hearings in Congress is we have the witness sworn. You have all 

seen the photographs of witnesses before Congress with their 

hands up being sworn in. And so we will do that here, as well. And 

I will ask the witnesses to stand and raise your right hand. 

[Witnesses sworn.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Please be seated. We have some wonderful 

witnesses here and I will introduce each of them as they give their 

testimony, and then we will save the end for questions and general 

discussion. 

Ann Burke is a registered nurse, with a master’s degree in 

health education, and a recently retired health teacher who taught 

middle school students in Rhode Island for 25 years. 

After the 2005 murder of her daughter, Lindsay, a victim of dating violence, she founded the Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund, 

whose mission is to support the prevention of dating and domestic 

violence through education. 

In 2009, we welcomed Ms. Burke to Washington to testify before 

the full Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on the continued 

importance of the Violence Against Women Act, and it is a great 

privilege to hear from her today. 

Ms. Burke, please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF ANN BURKE, PRESIDENT, LINDSAY ANN 

BURKE MEMORIAL FUND, NORTH KINGSTOWN, RHODE ISLAND 

Ms. BURKE. Chairman Whitehouse, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on why Congress needs to prioritize teen dating violence prevention in the reauthorization of the Violence 

Against Women Act. 

I speak to you today as a mother, an advocate, and retired teacher. It has been almost 6 years since my daughter, Lindsay, was 

brutally tortured and murdered by her ex-boyfriend. We cannot 

change the past, but we can help shape and determine the future. 

4 

And so I am proud that we have created a positive legacy in honor 

of Lindsay. 

In 2007, Rhode Island became the first state to pass a comprehensive teen dating violence law. Now, at least 14 states have 

followed the example of the Lindsay Ann Burke Act and passed 

laws to support education on teen dating violence. 

Many times, states pass laws after other parents experience my 

same nightmare. I know many of these parents from across our Nation. We have a parent e-mail support group, a group no one wants 

to belong to. And today, I speak for them, as well as myself. 

Not only do we live with the tremendous loss of our daughters 

and sons, but we have all been traumatized by this horrendous 

manner in which many of our children were tortured and murdered. Suffice it to say that the details of dating violence murders 

are beyond any sense of decency and morality. 

In Rhode Island, the attention given to this subject has made a 

difference. Since the passage of the Lindsay Ann Burke Act, physical teen dating violence rates have decreased from 14 percent in 

2007 to 10 percent in 2009. Just as importantly, the law created 

awareness on the severity of the issue among school personnel. 

Now, teachers are more receptive to teaching the topic of healthy 

relationships in health class. 

Beyond the statistics, I’d like to share some real life success stories. One of my former students wrote me a two-page letter about 

the abusive relationship she found herself in. The last paragraph 

reads: ‘‘So I wrote this letter because I’ll always wonder how long 

my initial relationship with that boy would have lasted if I hadn’t 

had your voice in my head warning me to get out quickly. I think 

that if you had never taught me all of the warning signs of an abusive relationship, I would have strived to be a better girlfriend and 

I would have let him control me, because I wouldn’t have known 

any better. I had never had a real boyfriend before. So how would 

I know the difference? Anything could have happened last year. 

Thank you for teaching me those lessons.’’ 

Another health teacher received a letter from a former student, 

who wrote: ‘‘Last year in health class we learned about healthy relationships. I listened. I’m glad I did, because over the summer, I 

realized that my boyfriend was starting to become abusive. He 

would call me 30 times a day, leaving me voice mails of him 

screaming at the top of his lungs. 

One day I couldn’t hang out and he punched a wall and threatened to do the same to me. If I hadn’t taken your health class, I 

would definitely still be with him. 

So thank you for teaching us about relationships. It really does 

matter. People don’t think it happens in our school. It does.’’ 

And yet another health teacher told me that after he finished 

teaching his unit on dating violence, one student walked up to him 

after class, pulled up her shirt sleeve, exposing several bruises, and 

said, ‘‘This is what my boyfriend did to me.’’ 

There is no silver bullet, single message, intervention or campaign that has been demonstrated to prevent teen dating violence. 

Success will require a comprehensive approach. But on a positive 

note, we know that prevention works. 

5 

Prevention research tells us we need to support education programs starting in middle school that do not simply talk about the 

warning signs of dating abuse, but initiate conversations about 

healthy relationships. We need to educate and engage those who 

influence teens, including parents, teachers, coaches, older youth 

and others. 

We need to meet youth where they are in person, but just as importantly, online through social marketing campaigns and tools, 

and policies need to be adopted to support this programming. 

Why is teen dating violence prevention an issue for the Violence 

Against Women Act and this committee? Last year, as a country, 

we spent more than $400 million for the Department of Justice 

VAWA programs to combat the serious crimes of domestic violence, 

dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. We need to invest in 

preventing teen dating violence to stop these adult crimes. 

As a mother, I can still remember the deep pain in my heart 5 

years ago when I first learned that dating violence is a preventable 

health problem. 

My hope is that the reauthorization of the Violence Against 

Women Act continues to support and expand services for teen victims, but also include the focus on the prevention and early intervention of teen dating violence. 

By involving the whole community, we will recognize that teen 

violence is a real and serious issue that can be prevented. 

And I’d like to share with you, Senator, an e-mail I received just 

yesterday which I think is most appropriate in supporting our prevention efforts. 

It reads: ‘‘Mrs. Burke, on behalf of the West Warwick Public 

School Department, as well as personally, I want to thank you and 

commend you for your continued work in the battle against teen 

dating violence. 

Unfortunately, we find ourselves talking to our students much 

more about this than we would like to. However, the work you’ve 

done and the resources you provide have been powerful in sending 

the message to our students about what dating violence is, that it’s 

not OK, and how to get help. 

We have many success stories of students getting out of destructive relationships, and I can honestly say your work played an integral part. Thank you again. Karen Tarasevich, Principal, West 

Warwick High School.’’ 

[Applause.] 

[The prepared testimony of Ms. Burke appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you, Ann. 

It is really extraordinary what you have accomplished. You took 

the worst nightmare that every parent dreads more than anything 

else and you turned the terrible energy of that into such a powerful 

force for good. And as we have said already, the leadership that 

you have shown is now being echoed around the country in many, 

many other states and we look forward to working with you on 

this. 

But I just wanted to add a particular word of how immensely 

proud I am of what you have accomplished out of this tragedy. 

Ms. BURKE. Thank you, Senator. I appreciate that. 

6 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Our next witness is Deborah DeBare, who 

I have worked with for many, many years as the executive director 

of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

Previously, Ms. DeBare served for 5 years as the executive director of the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County, and 

she was the policy and information associate for the Rhode Island 

Division of Mental Health and Community Services. 

She received her master’s degree from the Heller School at Brandeis University and a BA from Brown University. And it is a pleasure to have her testimony today. 

Please, Deb, proceed. 

STATEMENT OF DEBORAH DEBARE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

RHODE ISLAND COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, 

WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND 

Ms. DEBARE. Thank you. Chairman Whitehouse, thank you very 

much for the opportunity to discuss the prevalence of dating violence and domestic abuse with you today. 

Recognizing the extent of the problem is the first step in preventing future abuse. The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic 

Violence is a statewide association of six member agencies and a 

task force of survivors, SOAR, dedicated to ending domestic violence in our state. 

As executive director of the coalition, I’m here today to discuss 

the extent of domestic violence and dating violence, its impact on 

children and youth, and the critical importance of primary prevention programming. 

In the United States, the crisis of domestic violence has reached 

epidemic proportions. Families from all income brackets, educational levels, and racial and ethnic origins feel its effects. On average, more than three women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States, and women experience 

over two million injuries from intimate partner violence every year. 

Rhode Island is no exception to the national norm. In 2010, 

Rhode Island’s six domestic violence agencies provided a comprehensive array of services to over 10,400 victims of domestic violence and responded to over 15,000 crisis calls. 

The impact of domestic violence on children who witness abuse 

has only recently been recognized. Growing up in a violent home 

can affect every aspect of a child’s life, growth and development, 

and lead to higher risks of repeating the cycle of abuse. 

In spite of this, we know that when properly identified and addressed, the effects of domestic violence on children can be greatly 

mitigated. 

Teen dating violence is also more prevalent in the United States 

than people realize. Approximately one in three adolescent girls in 

the United States is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse 

from a dating partner, a figure which far exceeds victimization 

rates for other types of violence affecting youth. 

In Rhode Island, an estimated 11 percent of high school students 

stay that they have been hit, slapped, or otherwise hurt physically 

by a girlfriend or boyfriend on purpose. Ten percent of Rhode Island high school students say that they have been forced to have 

sex when they did not want to, compared to 8 percent nationally. 

7 

The domestic violence movement has spent the past 30 years 

building up its defensive line, you could say, in the struggle to end 

violence against women. We have scored a lot of points and won 

a lot of games through the passage of the Violence Against Women 

Act, mandatory arrest laws, and the development of safe homes 

and support services. 

But in order to win that championship game, we need to build 

our offensive line, as well. We need to engage communities in primary prevention. 

Rhode Island has been a leader in the prevention of domestic violence and dating violence, as we have put resources into working 

to change public attitudes about the issue for over 10 years. 

Our very first public awareness campaign focused on bystanders, 

urging people to change their attitude about domestic violence, to 

stop thinking about it as a private matter. Since then, we’ve been 

fortunate to have been one of the first 14 states funded through the 

Centers for Disease Control, through the DELTA program, to develop a statewide prevention plan for domestic violence. 

The Violence Against Women Act has unquestionably improved 

the national response to domestic and sexual violence. Since VAWA 

passed in 1994, states have passed more than 660 laws to combat 

domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. 

However, in addition to saving and rebuilding lives, VAWA has actually saved taxpayers $14.8 million in net averted social costs in 

the first 6 years alone. 

VAWA was not only the right thing to do, it has also proven to 

be fiscally sound legislation. Due to the overwhelming success of 

VAWA-funded programs, more and more victims are coming forward for help each year. However, this driving demand for services 

without a concurrent increase in funding means that many desperate victims are turned away from live-saving services. In just 1 

day, there were over 9,000 requests for service unable to be met 

by domestic violence agencies around the country. 

The Violence Against Women Act is working, but the job is not 

done. Although VAWA has done much to create systems that help 

victims and survivors, much more is needed. We must strengthen 

VAWA so that it can work for all victims of domestic and sexual 

violence. Whether they live in rural or urban areas, whether they 

are children or elderly victims, whether they speak English or another language, every victim deserves a chance to live a peace-filled 

life. 

Congress has a unique opportunity to make a difference in the 

lives of so many by reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act 

in 2011 with key and (inaudible) improvements. 

Thank you, Senator Whitehouse, for all you have done, for your 

leadership, and for all I know you will continue to do to help victims of domestic and dating violence. And, again, thank you very 

much for the opportunity to share some comments with you. 

[Applause.] 

[The prepared testimony of Ms. DeBare appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you, Deb. And thank you for your 

many years of dedicated work in this area. 

8 

Our next witness is Kate Reilly. Kate directs Start Strong Rhode 

Island, a program based at the Sojourner House in Providence, 

which aims to curb the epidemic of teen dating and digital abuse. 

At Start Strong, Ms. Reilly is leading the development of a 

videogame and a social networking site that will help teens learn 

about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. 

Ms. Reilly has a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Boston 

University School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree from 

New College of Florida. 

We welcome her for her testimony. Please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF KATE REILLY, DIRECTOR, START STRONG, 

SOJOURNER HOUSE, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND 

Ms. REILLY. Thank you, Chairman Whitehouse, for the invitation 

to testify on a program aimed at preventing teen dating violence. 

It is Start Strong, building healthy teen relationships. 

I direct that program, and it’s a partnership led by Sojourner 

House, one of six domestic violence member agencies of the Rhode 

Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. We partner with 

Young Voices to develop and implement innovative approaches to 

prevent teen dating violence. 

Six months ago, Start Strong Rhode Island invited young people 

to share their relationships, in 140 characters or less, on our interactive Website, called hookupwithrespect.com. We thought that we 

might get a few dozen entries from kids, but by the end of the 

month, we had hundreds of stories from kids all over the country 

like these: ‘‘I go out with an amazing guy. He cheated on me twice. 

I can’t break up with him. Every time I get angry, he yells at me 

and calls me insane. Signed, I love him,’’ 14-years-old, Providence. 

This one: ‘‘I was in an abusive relationship and I left. Now, he’s 

begging me to come back. He’s buying me all the good things and 

doing sweet stuff. I don’t want to go back, but I do miss him. 

Signed, Annie W.,’’ 16-years-old, Providence. 

The stories submitted to our site, in addition to the dozens of 

interviews and conversations with hundreds of students in classrooms, shows that young people in Rhode Island know what’s 

unhealthy and they see these negative (inaudible) and they want 

to talk about the issues. 

But these stories show that young people everywhere need to 

learn how to build healthy relationships. When young people learn 

and embrace healthy relationship skills, they can prevent teen dating violence and future adult domestic violence or sexual violence, 

as well as bullying, unintended teen pregnancy, and alcohol and 

substance abuse. 

So how do we make that happen? How can Congress partner 

with advocates and educators to create ways to help young people 

build healthy relationships? 

What do we know about what works? Well, first, we need Congressional support for comprehensive programs. We need products 

that bring our message of non-violence into places that youth are 

living and playing, school, home, after school, sports fields, and, 

also, in the connected world of smart phones and Facebook. 

Start Strong Rhode Island brings comprehensive and engaging 

prevention strategies to our school and community through a few 

9 

key strategies. We’re using the Fourth R, an evidence-based 

healthy relationships curriculum and have reached over 600 7thand 8th-graders since October 2009. 

The social and emotional learning curriculum integrates interactive storytelling, multimedia, and performance. But we’re also 

reaching out to parents with a program called Passport to Social 

Media, which helps parents prevent abuse in a digital world, so 

that they can work at home to keep their kids safe. 

Second, we need Congressional—we need Congress to recognize 

the importance of authentic youth-adult partnerships in this work. 

That means that we need to involve groups like Young Voices who 

work with young people and teach them how to understand laws 

so that they can advocate for policy change. 

Finally, we need Congressional support for this conversation 

being on the social Web, Facebook, Twitter, and, also, videogames. 

At Start Strong Rhode Island, we’re investing a significant amount 

of money in the social media tools, because we know that social and 

electronic media are no longer a pastime. A recent poll from the 

Pew Center of American Life shows that half of teens send 50 or 

more text messages a day. That’s 1,500 texts a month. 

In another study from the Pew Center, 90 percent of teenagers 

classify themselves as gamers. That’s also why we are going to, in 

October of 2011, release a videogame that will be the first 

immersive video game to support the teaching and learning of positive, protective relationship-building. 

We’re leveraging the power of gaming to create an engaging virtual teen dating violence prevention curriculum that kids will be 

able to access anytime, anywhere they have access to the Internet. 

Yes, we need to be aware of the risks of these technologies, such 

as cyber-bullying and sexting, but we need to utilize them as opportunities. Social media and mobile technologies can be used to promote prevention and responsible bystander behavior. 

Any effort to stop teen dating violence must help youth learn to 

use these technologies responsibly and help them—and use them to 

disseminate prevention methods. 

Each of the 11 Start Strong communities across the country have 

innovative strategies for schools to change policies, use social 

media, and reach parents and older influencers to be a part of this 

prevention work. 

I urge you to look at these models by going to 

startstrongteens.org. 

In closing, to reach and engage youth, it’s not enough to teach 

prevention in the classroom. Advocates, parents and youth leaders 

need to meet kids where they are and help them achieve healthy 

relationships on and offline. 

[The prepared testimony of Ms. Reilly appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you very much, Kate. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you for your leadership in bringing 

this message (inaudible). It is critically important. 

Our final witness is Ruth Zakarin. Ruth is the executive director 

of the Katie Brown Educational Program, a relationship violence 

10 

prevention program serving Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts. 

Previously, Ms. Zakarin managed a program and provided services for victims of domestic violence and their children in a variety 

of settings, including hospitals, shelters, and community-based programs. 

She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University 

of Pennsylvania. 

Thank you very much for your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF RUTH ZAKARIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

KATIE BROWN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS 

Ms. ZAKARIN. First, I want to thank Chairman Whitehouse for 

hosting this hearing, and all of you for being in attendance. 

I am privileged to provide information about our program as a 

way of highlighting the importance and role of educational programs in preventing and eventually ending teen date violence. 

The Katie Brown Educational Program is a relationship violence 

prevention program. We work with students from 6th grade 

through high school, teaching information they need to be healthy 

and safe in all of their relationships. 

Since our inception in 2001, we have reached over 47,000 individuals with our program. Our curriculum addresses a range of topics, 

including conflict resolution, managing anger without violence, recognizing the signs of an abusive relationship, standing up for your 

own rights, while also respecting the rights of others. 

We also teach about the different kinds of violence found in a relationship—physical, emotional, verbal, financial, and sexual violence. It is our belief that proactive education is at the core of preventing violence. 

This education cannot wait until high school when students are 

already involved in dating relationships and have formed many of 

their attitudes about how relationships should work. It is never too 

early to start teaching young people about how to have a healthy 

relationship. 

This kind of education provided early and often is extremely effective in reducing relationship violence. This belief has been reinforced by a 2007 study from the CDC on the effectiveness of universal school-based programs on the prevention of violence and 

reckless behavior. 

This report included bullying and dating violence prevention programs that met certain criteria, and found that for every $1 spent 

on prevention, over $3 were saved in health care and criminal justice costs per youth. 

At the Katie Brown Educational Program, we see the impact of 

such programming every time we enter a classroom to teach. All 

of the students who receive our curriculum complete three important tests. These three important tests measure changes in beliefs 

and attitudes about violence in relationships from bullying and 

healthy friendships in younger grades to dating violence in older 

grades. 

For example, in the 2009–2010 school year, 92 percent of participating 5th-graders believed in the following statement—I feel like 

11 

I can now stick up for myself without hurting anyone—at the completion of our program. Ninety-four percent of 7th-graders identified at least one part of their own behavior that they need to 

change to be more respectful in their relationships. 

Ninety-one percent of 8th-graders said they were willing to 

change their stereotypical ideas to be more tolerant and accepting 

of others. And 93 percent of high school students stated that they 

were more aware of the warning signs of an unhealthy or abusive 

relationship. 

These responses show us that when we talk to young people 

about violence in relationships, they listen. It is imperative that we 

give youth the opportunity to explore their own attitudes and beliefs about relationships. We have to teach young people what it 

means to be respectful to peers and, eventually, to dating partners. 

We must work with you to change social norms and create a culture where violence is not tolerated and where abusing a partner 

or peer is simply not acceptable. 

On April 4, 2011, Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the University of New Hampshire about the responsibility of colleges and universities to prevent sexual violence on campus. In his remarks, 

Vice President Biden spoke passionately about not just responding 

to victims, but working to prevent such violence so that there are 

no more victims. 

I would like to end with something the Vice President shared 

during his speech. Really, changing attitudes is what we need to 

do the most. Folks, if we are going to end violence, not reduce, but 

end it, we are going to have to change attitudes. That is the core 

of the problem. 

Again, I would like to thank Chairman Whitehouse for working 

in partnership with us to ensure that the necessary support and resources are available for the prevention of teen date violence. 

[The prepared testimony of Ruth Zakarin appears as a submission for the record.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you very much. 

[Applause.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. So let me ask each of you, first, for some 

recommendations. We in Congress will be, I hope soon, reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in the Judiciary Committee. 

I hope we will also be taking up fairly soon the new education bill 

in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. 

Obviously, the education-related bill would have to be fairly 

school-based in order to stay within the jurisdiction of that committee. But between the two of them, the VAWA jurisdiction and 

the ESEA jurisdiction, it should cover this area pretty broadly. 

What are the key program additions that each of you would recommend? 

And let me add that the record of this hearing will stay open for 

a week after the conclusion of the hearing and anything additional 

that you or anyone else may wish to file will be added to the record 

of the hearing. 

So you do not have to give me a perfect and complete answer 

right now, because later on I want a more comprehensive answer 

than time permits. (Inaudible.] 

12 

Let me hear your thoughts on what you think are the most important areas we should be sure to invest our (inaudible). 

Ms. BURKE. On the ESEA, I believe what we will submit are language changes and there will be (inaudible) school programs, to include language for teen dating violence, preventing teen dating violence. And there is no doubt that funding from that department 

can specifically apply to teen dating violence programs, as well. 

Second, with VAWA, we are recommending—and we will definitely put our written proposal in the—include it in the record for 

you—but we support what the Obama Administration is doing as 

far as having an umbrella over all the programs that are now in 

there, like the Aging Men program, the step program which offers 

some funding for school-based programs, creating policy. 

We do support a comprehensive approach, but we very specifically recommend the emphasis on prevention. Prevention must be 

included in that. Right now, there is no funding for prevention included. 

We just need the resources to work on prevention. Community 

agencies are part of that solution. They need resources to work 

with the schools on prevention so that we can have a comprehensive approach. 

We can’t ignore the relationship between the community resources, the schools, the parents, the coaches. It’s going to take everyone. It takes a village to raise a child. It’s going to take a village 

to solve this problem. 

So the emphasis primarily on prevention within that comprehensive package in VAWA. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And, Deb, what would you recommend? 

Ms. DEBARE. I could go on for another half-hour about this because the Violence Against Women Act is so lengthy and comprehensive. But for the record here, what I would like to say is, in 

particular, in Title 3, which is the services and prevention for 

younger victims of violence elements, those are the sections we are 

going to be submitting in writing, the areas that we would like to 

see some additional language to ensure that prevention are eligible 

activities and that the focus can be in prevention. The Keeping Our 

Campuses Safe Act, for example, right now, those grant programs 

fund services and intervention. We want to make sure that prevention activities can be included there. And we want to make sure 

that all the prevention and protection programs are working, as 

Ann said, in a consolidated way and not duplicating efforts. 

Now, I would be remiss, also, if I didn’t mention Title 1 of the 

Violence Against Women Act, because the judicial and law enforcement tools, while they are most traditionally thought of as intervention strategies, are hand-in-hand, part-and-parcel with prevention. 

It has been proven that strong prosecutions results can deter and 

prevent future situations of domestic violence from occurring. So 

we have a number of recommendations that would strengthen Title 

1, with the judicial and law enforcement tools, as well. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Kate, what would be your first recommendations to us? 

Ms. REILLY. I would join Ann and Deb in supporting the consolidation of the VAWA violence prevention programs. I also am very 

13 

much in support of comprehensive programs, and I think that we 

have a particular opportunity to expand comprehensive prevention 

in VAWA. 

I think that it’s important to make sure that prevention programs leverage social networking, digital communication, and gaming are included and encouraged in those RFPs. And I would also 

encourage to include—to be as comprehensive as you possibly can 

in the ESEA language, and, in addition to the very important piece 

of classroom education, also include prevention activities that reach 

out to parents from the school, and engage the school in reaching 

those parents. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And, Ruth. 

Ms. ZAKARIN. I certainly want to echo all the words of my colleagues and, also, add a piece about curricular standards so that 

schools are given some guidance about expectations for the inclusion of prevention curricula throughout the students’ engagement 

in school. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Where would you suggest those be developed or approved? 

Ms. ZAKARIN. I think that there is room for them in either VAWA 

or in school-based legislation. And I also would recommend that 

that legislation include language not just about what we want to 

prevent, but, also, what we want to encourage so that there is very 

clear and strong language about teaching the young people the 

skills they need to have healthy relationships; so not just what 

they shouldn’t be doing in relationships, but what a healthy relationship should look like. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Tell me when you think we should start 

focusing on this issue in terms of the ages of the kids who begin 

to get involved. I have been very involved in middle school legislation. 

President Obama, when he was in the Senate, had a bill that he 

supported called Success in the Middle. That has now become my 

legislation in the Health Committee, and that could provide a vehicle. And I just wanted to hear from you on whether that is too 

soon, not soon enough, about right in terms of when we need to engage with kids on this issue. 

Ms. DEBARE. I don’t think it’s ever too soon to start discussing 

and working with children and youth at this. For example, even in 

working with preschool children who are experiencing and witnessing domestic violence in their home, early intervention with 

children at that age can dramatically reduce the risk of repeat cycles of abuse. 

And so I think it’s misleading to think that if we just start in 

middle school to address the problem, that we will have taken care 

of it. There are definitely different interventions and strategies for 

working with developmentally aged children, but there are programs that are out there that are geared toward elementary school 

children, working on conflict resolution and starting to build those 

resiliency skills for children who already are at risk. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Before they get into a relationship, the 

skills are laid down. 

Ms. DEBARE. Absolutely. 

14 

Ms. ZAKARIN. I would also add that I know that we are talking 

about this in terms of teen dating violence, but if we look at teen 

dating violence as one component of relationship violence as a 

whole and we look at that as a continuum, I think it becomes clear 

that we can start talking to children about what it means to have 

a healthy relationship and prevent violence in their peer relationships, their relationships with others, and, eventually, in dating relationships, and that can start very early on. 

So I would agree with Deb that it’s never too early to talk to a 

child about what it means to have a healthy relationship and what 

the definition of respect is. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Tell me a little bit more about the problem 

of children who witness violence. We worked on this together, Deb, 

when I was attorney general. What are the latest findings on this? 

Ms. DEBARE. Well, as the years have gone on, there’s more research out which, unfortunately, shows that there are significant 

behavioral and emotional factors that are impacted in children 

when they witness domestic violence in the home. 

We used to think that witnessing domestic violence meant that 

the children were present in the room when the violence occurred, 

but we’ve seen an impact shown when children are in the household. They may be in a different room and hear the abuse going 

on and the impact is as heightened for them as if they were in the 

same room. 

And so we need to look at the family as a whole unit in that 

sense and realize that it’s not just the two parties that are in the 

assaultive situation that are impacted. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And what is the effect that has been 

shown to take place with children who are witnesses to domestic 

violence, whether immediately or several rooms away, just hearing 

it? 

Ms. DEBARE. Statistically, girls who witness domestic violence 

are at higher risk for growing up to experience dating violence or 

domestic violence as adults. Boys are at a higher risk for repeating 

the patterns of the abusive behavior. And both boys and girls are 

at risk of having emotional problems, behavioral problems in 

school, suicide ideation, psychological issues that present, mental 

health issues. 

So there’s a whole host of problems that have not even be identified as having been caused or triggered by witnessing domestic 

abuse. However, as I said earlier, with early intervention, these effects can dramatically be mitigated. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Kate, tell me a little bit more about the 

way in which the new social media technologies both enable abusive and bullying behavior and, also, enable communication that 

can help address those concerns. 

How prevalent is it, for instance, for you to see that the experience of violence or bullying that is brought to your attention has 

a connection to social networking sites and communications across 

social networks? 

Ms. REILLY. We definitely need more research about cyber-bullying and digital abuse. But to give you an idea, when I go into a 

classroom of 30 kids and we start talking about digital abuse, 

sexting, constant text messaging, digital disrespect, there are few 

15 

kids in the classroom who don’t have a personal story to tell about 

that. 

There are some dynamics of connected culture that make bullying more dangerous and more prevalent. No. 1, it’s sharing. So 

before, you would have a message or maybe a fight between two 

people, that would have been just contained to that relationship. 

Now, that’s something that can spread to hundreds, even thousands of people in less than a second. 

You also have the audience effect. Conflicts can arise exponentially when you have hundreds or thousands of people looking in 

on it. And, third, you have what we call the invisible wall. 

Sometimes people get a dose of cyber confidence because they 

can’t see who they’re talking to, and people say and do things to 

each other that they would never do in real life. 

So those three dynamics take normal bullying, the same routes, 

in real life and just enhances it and makes it more pervasive. 

What I love about the social Web, though, in terms of doing the 

organizing and prevention work is that it allows you to pull 

everybody’s stories about a topic and share that. So a lot of what 

we do at Hookup With Respect and with our video game is actually 

creating the tools that allow people to tell their own stories. And 

so we can bring the voices of thousands of kids together at once. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. I am warned that the bell is going to ring 

in about a minute and that that will create a certain amount of 

turmoil as the bell rings and people come and go. 

So what I think I will do is just briefly adjourn the hearing to 

allow that disruption to proceed, and then we will come back into 

session briefly. And although it is not in order for members of the 

audience to ask questions at a Subcommittee hearing, I do not 

think that there is anything that prevents me from listening to the 

questions and relating them to the panel. 

So I may take a question or two from the audience and pass it 

on to the two of you to help engage the discussion, and then we 

will conclude the hearing after that. 

So we will be adjourned for a few minutes until the bell has 

rung. 

[Whereupon, at 2:30 p.m., the hearing was recessed and resumed 

back on the record at 2:42 p.m.] 

AFTER RECESS 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. The hearing will return to order. And 

what I think I will do is see if there is a question or two in the 

audience that I can relate to the panel so that we have a little bit 

of audience participation here. And I also wanted to give Ruth a 

chance to tell a little bit the story of Katie Brown and how the 

Katie Brown Education Project came into being, because it has 

made a really significant difference, but, unfortunately, it started 

in sorrow, as well. 

If you could explain the background. 

Ms. ZAKARIN. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so. 

Our program is named after a young woman named Katie 

Brown. She was a 20-year-old woman from Barrington, and she 

was murdered in January of 2001 by her dating partner. And in 

the aftermath of her death, friends of the Browns came together 

with a domestic violence direct service provider in Fall River to 

16 

start a conversation about what could be done to prevent the same 

fate from happening to any other young person. And from there our 

program was born. 

And at its origins, we started sending folks into area schools to 

talk—start talking to young people about healthy relationships, 

and our curriculum developed from there and we now, as I mentioned before, have a curriculum for 5th grade through high school 

and we teach in schools throughout southeastern Massachussetts 

and Rhode Island. 

And our staff is now at its largest with four educators who are 

in area schools pretty much every week of the school year, again, 

with the idea that we want to give young people the skills and information that they need to recognize and prevent violence so that 

there are no more victims. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. I want to give a few other people a voice 

in this hearing, as well, because I hear from Rhode Islanders 

through letters and e-mail all the time on a wide variety of topics 

and a number of them have written letters to me about bullying, 

and I just want to share a few of those thoughts. 

One comes from a parent—these are from parents—in East Providence. A child at her son’s school had committed suicide due to 

bullying and her son came to her to try to understand what had 

happened. And she and her husband talked to her son, but she was 

still anxious and concerned and she really didn’t have a good answer. 

So she wrote to me this: ‘‘When will this bullying come to an 

end? What is it that we have to do to get the point across that this 

is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated? It breaks my heart 

as a parent to know that a life is now gone, children are heartsick, 

and, God forbid, the reality of it all is that it could be your own 

child, and now I send my child off to school pondering and hoping 

that this never happens to my child.’’ 

Another parent wrote: ‘‘My son is’’—the first was from Jennifer 

in East Providence, Rhode Island. This is Beth writing in from 

Wakefield, Rhode Island. ‘‘My son is in the 7th grade. He is athletic 

and no outward appearances make him look like a target for bullying. Yet, he is harassed daily. His grades have gone from good 

to failing. He cannot even concentrate. He has been assaulted and 

he can’t hit them back or he will be suspended. Something needs 

to be done. Our children are not safe in school.’’ 

And the last one I will read is from J. in Bristol County. She said 

her daughter was being bullied because of the way she dressed. A 

group of girls constantly were on her to the point her school work 

failed and she feared going to school. The problem ultimately escalated to physical violence. 

She wrote: ‘‘One day my daughter was beaten by one of the girls 

and I was called to the police station. The offending child was suspended briefly, but the girl’s friends continue to taunt my daughter 

with name-calling and threats.’’ 

Eventually, she home-schooled her daughter and the daughter is 

now successfully in college. 

But I wanted to put into the record of this hearing the extent to 

which I think this touches all of our lives, and I hear so often from 

parents about this. 

17 

Now, before we wrap up the hearing, I did say I would give people a chance. So if anybody has a question they would like to ask, 

I will happily repeat it to the panel. 

Yes, sir? Good afternoon. 

Question from the Audience. [Off microphone.] My son was a victim of gang violence. [Off microphone.] Despite all the damage done 

to his head and his face, it was over $10,000, they all walked. So 

this young lady was talking about stronger prosecutions. 

We need people in the attorney general’s office—because I know 

Sheldon was big on doing—he did a lot to stop it. 

Well, the violence that is happening to these young people, the 

courts are allowing it, our attorney generals are allowing it. And 

it isn’t just Rhode Island. It is happening across the country. 

So we need stronger prosecutions. [Off microphone] talking to the 

state police about the situation, one of the things I said to him, because they were involved in some of the internal affairs aspects, I 

said to him, I said, ‘‘You’ve got to love the people and you’ve got 

to start—we’ve got to start prosecuting the criminals.’’ 

I do thank you for your time, and have a great day. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you. I think we all heard the question. Would anybody care to respond? 

Ms. BURKE. I think I would just like to say that having been 

thrust into the judicial system several years ago, what I very 

quickly learned was that victims have far few many rights and 

criminals have far too many rights. 

I don’t know specifically which laws need to be changed or 

amended, but I do think we need stronger laws. I do understand, 

though, being an educator, that with youth crime, you would like 

to think that we should give those offending youth a chance to rehabilitate themselves, to change. 

I was just talking with Deb, in fact, in terms of dating violence. 

I’ve heard from several superintendents and principals asking the 

question: So if we have an episode of dating violence on school 

grounds, according to our policy, we can discipline the abusive partner, but what do we do to re-educate them, to help to turn them 

around? 

And as an educator—and this is very difficult for me, with a 

daughter that’s been murdered. It’s hard for me to look at it from 

the viewpoint of the abusive partner. But I do—I try to be as objective as possible and I do believe in my heart that when you’re talking about a youthful offender, that we have to, as a society, give 

them a chance to rehabilitate themselves, hopefully through some 

sort of an educational program. 

However, I do believe that each of them have to be held accountable for their actions. So I think that the re-education and the rehabilitation has to be on top of the discipline or being held accountable according to the law. 

I don’t know the specifics of your case, but I do believe that far 

too often, we’re a little bit too soft with criminals, regretfully. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Let me ask an additional question. Violence within a relationship often has different motivations and different triggers than violence in other circumstances. 

Are there programs that are particularly effective at dealing with 

the offenders and giving them the chance to rehabilitate themVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:16 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 068183 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\68183.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
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selves and to learn how to avoid traveling that path again that are 

particularly effective in the relationship violence context? 

Ms. DEBARE. Well, to answer that, what I would say is that domestic violence and dating violence situations are primarily crimes 

driven by motivation of power and control. And so as learned behaviors, there are psychosocial programs that have been developed 

over the past 15–20 years in a group setting that are, at this point, 

the most effective that research has seen. 

Now, I’m not going to sit here and say that they are effective or 

a cure, but there is some research that is encouraging that for individuals who are motivated, that the behaviors can change. 

For the most part, though, to recognize that domestic and dating 

violence is societally learned behavior—and so that as a society, if 

we can change those norms and, in that way, hold our own selves 

accountable, we have a much greater likelihood of reducing domestic and dating violence. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And how long is the pull of childhood exposure to violence in adult behavior? You said that it was statistically significant, but how significant? 

Ms. DEBARE. Children who are exposed to domestic violence are 

often six times more likely than children who are not exposed to 

domestic violence to have symptoms or behavior problems or repeat 

the cycle. 

So while that is a high risk factor, it is not a direct causal factor, 

and that’s where the research is quite—there’s a large continuum 

about how large of a risk factor that really is. 

Early interventions, as I said before, have been proven to take 

that risk factor and dramatically cut it down. So just because someone grows up in a home where there is abuse going on does not 

mean that they are automatically going to grow up to be abusive. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And let me ask one more question about 

the relationship. We have two topics today. One is bullying and 

cyber-bulling, and the other is relationship violence, domestic violence. 

What is the connection between the two? How would you describe it? 

Ms. ZAKARIN. Well, I think there is a strong connection and it’s 

part of the reason why I use and our program uses the words ‘‘relationship violence,’’ because that encompasses violence in a peer relationship or bullying, cyber violence, dating violence. And what 

has been found is that there are so many similarities between the 

violence that happens among peers; also, very often, about power 

and control, having a lot of the same effects on health and well 

being, on academic success, as dating violence. 

So there is a tremendous amount of overlap, which is why I 

think it’s good to get away from putting dating violence and bullying in different silos and seeing them as a continuum of behaviors that all relate to relationship violence. 

And I will probably sound like a broken record, but the more that 

we can do to teach kids about what a healthy relationship looks 

like, wherever, at school, at home, with a dating partner, the more 

we will see a reduction in such issues. 

19 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And that would be equally true whether 

the bullying was simply verbal versus physical. It connects nonetheless. 

Ms. ZAKARIN. Sure. And what we try to do is to help children understand that violence is more than just a physical assault. Traditional schoolyard bullying, fighting is very different now and sometimes children do not realize that sitting in front of the computer 

screen and posting something and hitting ‘‘enter’’ is a form of violence, and that using your words to hurt someone or cause fear in 

someone is a form of violence; or destroying someone’s property, 

even if you’re not hurting them physically, is a form of violence. 

So in these conversations, it’s important that we give young people a broader definition of what violence is and, also, hold young 

people responsible for their own behavior so that they’re not perpetrating violence against others. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Very good. Yes? Please, Ann. 

Ms. BURKE. And as much as I agree wholeheartedly 100 percent 

with what Ruth just said, that we need to take that comprehensive 

approach and especially starting early and there is the overlap, 

most of the similarity has to do with the power and control in the 

relationship. 

I think, though, that whatever we do to address the bullying situation, we cannot and must not let dating violence get lost in the 

shuffle, because there are some differences as it progresses. 

Abusers of dating violence usually have a problem with one person and one person only, and that’s their romantic partner, and, 

generally, much of that abuse takes place in private. Oftentimes, 

we don’t know who the abusers are. And that’s why when you see 

episodes of domestic violence in the news, people will oftentimes 

say, ‘‘I can’t believe it. He seemed like such a nice person.’’ You 

wouldn’t guess that that person was being abusive to their romantic partner. 

In stark contrast to that, when we look at bullying, especially 

amongst young people, bullying is an overt behavior. In school, everybody knows who the bullies are and victims know that they’re 

being victimized. 

They may not most often feel secure enough and faith enough to 

come forward and tell, but they do know that they’re being victimized. When we look at dating violence, most victims of dating violence are not aware that they’re victims of dating violence. They’re 

not aware that they’re being abused. 

So there are those differences and those are very significant differences. So whatever we do educationally for bullying, some of it 

in the early stages does certainly apply to dating violence, but as 

we enter the middle school years, we’ve got to address those issues 

both. We can’t have them so enmeshed that dating violence gets 

lost, because then we’ll end up back in the situation where we have 

victims not learning warning signs, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Good. Well, you all have just done wonderful work. And I want to assure you that as we go forward in Washington on these issues, that we will be in close touch with you. It 

is part of my job to bring the experience and wisdom of Rhode Island down to Washington and try to improve things there through 

20 

the wisdom and experience that Rhode Islanders can bring to so 

many different issues. 

But on this one, I think, Rhode Island really has an enormous 

amount to be proud of. And even though a great deal of this leadership had its inception in tragedy, it is, nonetheless, inspiring for 

that, indeed, it is wonderfully inspiring because of that. 

And so I thank you very much and I look forward to working 

with you as we go forward. I just want to close with an expression 

of my very great pride in what you have done in Rhode Island and 

what you continue to do in Rhode Island every day. 

So without further ado, if there is anything that anybody wants 

to add, the hearing will be open for an additional week and they 

can send anything they would like in to my office and we will add 

it into the record of these proceedings, and the record of these proceedings will become part of the official legislative record of the 

Congress of the United States. 

So thank you very much for participating, and the hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 2:58 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

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