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Teen Dating Violence Educational Cards and Bookmarks
For five years Jennifer Ann's Group has distributed free educational materials to anybody who requested them. To date we have distributed over 500,000 educational cards and educational bookmarks to schools, churches, police departments, crime victims groups, prosecutors, concerned parents, students, and many more. The expense of doing this has been considerable but we have been more than happy to do this.
Unfortunately the time that it takes to effectively manage this has been a constant problem. Although I have many wonderful friends who have helped when they could, it's clear that there is no way for me to continue to ship these materials. In addition to managing Jennifer Ann's Group I have been a full-time student in law school for the past three years (as are most of the friends who have very generously donated their time).
I am currently evaluating the use of Amazon for fulfillment of future card and bookmark orders. I do not have final figures regarding what this will mean in terms of expense but, unless a corporate sponsor will be able to cover the costs I expect that these materials will no longer be provided free of charge. The cards (with shipping expenses) average close to .15 per card but I expect that we will be able to cover most of this cost. Hopefully the expense to those requesting these materials will be just that amount to cover shipping + any fees charged by Amazon for their fulfillment process.
Below are the latest images of the cards and the bookmarks. As soon as I have a plan in place for fulfillment through Amazon I'll be updating this info. There are a handful of community partners that will continue to receive our materials, in large part I can do this because they handle the distribution for us; all Jennifer Ann's Group has to do is to pay for the materials and ship the cases to them.
Teen Dating Violence Educational Cards and Bookmarks
Current distribution partners:
Georgia
Atlanta: L.I.V.E. (Student Organzation at GSU College of Law)Atlanta: PADV: Partnership Against Domestic Violence
Atlanta: Start Strong Atlanta
Tennessee
Nashville: Metro Nashville Police Department, Domestic Violence DivisionNashville: Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence
Texas
El Paso: Dr. Elizabeth Richeson (Jennifer Ann's Group Advisory Board)United Kingdom
London: Against Violence & AbuseIf you represent an organization that is interested in becoming a distribution partner (distribution of 5,000+ cards per year) please contact me at:
Educational Cards from Jennifer Ann's Group
Our educational cards are printed on plastic (CR80 specifications) and are very durable. They are the same size as a credit card and so can be carried in a wallet without attracting undue attention. Our last few orders have been printed in the U.S.A. and have been made of post-consumer recycled materials. As long as we're able to afford to do so, we prefer to print in the U.S.A. and to use these "green" materials.
We currently distribute English and Spanish versions of the cards. We have had the information translated into Korean and are considering translation into German as well. As additional languages become available we will be sure to share that information with you.
We printed our first set of cards in 2006 and since then have distributed over 450,000 cards throughout the
U.S. and a few cities in Canada. The Spanish version was first printed in 2007 and currently represents between
20 - 25% of the card orders we receive. Our partner, The National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, whose toll-free number is featured on the back of every card, has bilingual operators available to answer the phones 24 / 7.
U.S. Educational Cards in English
U.S. Educational Cards in Spanish
Bookmarks from Jennifer Ann's Group
Our bookmarks are geared more toward college students than are the educational cards. We printed our first set of the bookmarks in 2008 and have since distributed over 50,000 bookmarks, almost exclusively through our partners. The front of the bookmark has a revealing statistic: "44% of all students have been in an abusive relationship by the time they graduate from college." The Journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, July 2008.
An aside: The citation is included on the bookmarks because people are simply incredulous about this staggering figure (and rightly so). Not only is this a horrific statistic, it is very sobering when one realizes that this is specifically about those students who graduate from college. In theory this would preclude thoughts of dating violence being an issue only affecting those that are "on the other side of the tracks." I can tell you, from my own experience, that many, many (many) people have deluded themselves into thinking that dating violence is an issue that does not affect people like "them" (in whichever manner they choose to define "them").Statistics like this shake up their world a bit - these aren't problems that should be affecting people like "them" - that would mean that their children, their friends, they themselves, are at risk! I deal with this all of the time. People that are otherwise well-meaning and conscientious choose to delude themselves rather than face the stark reality that they (or those they care for deeply) are at risk. The murder of our friends, our siblings, our children is not an abstract concept - it's happening every day and it's happening on both sides of the "tracks." You can either make peace with that now and help to positively affect change or you can instead just keep your head in the sand. You might find that the sand is a peaceful place to bury your head but it won't stop that late-night knock on your door.
I will mourn the murder of your child but would so much rather that it not ever come to that. I am contacted by grieving parents & relatives on a regular basis. I would give so much if I could have prevented their pain. My loss has already happened. I pray to God (and any other power that has meaning to you) that your loss hasn't happened and that it never will.
But: if you refuse to acknowledge the risks I don't know what else I can do. I cannot adequately express how painful this has been. The way to know it is to experience it; you do not want to know.
I was supposed to be describing the bookmarks so let me get back on track: On the reverse side in addition to "ten warning signs of an abusive relationship" and the toll-free number for The National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline which is available 24/7 in English, Spanish, and by TTY.
In an effort to have students actually use these bookmarks I've added a ruler (inches & centimeters) as well as sections on commonly misspelled words, useful math forumulas, and PC shortcuts. My hope is that the bookmarks will be used... as bookmarks(!) and will be available should a student find themselves (or a friend) in need of the toll-free helpline.
We created a UK-version in 2010 for our partner in London, Against Violence & Abuse in their first-ever comprehensive campaign in the U.K. to combat teen dating violence. We donated four cases to their campaign and are pleased with the response. Unfortunately Customs (or the UK version of it) wouldn't release the bookmarks until we paid about $300 in duty taxes. Next time we need to have a better plan; possibly use a UK printer. Lesson learned.
The bulk of our bookmark distribution is through L.I.V.E. (Legal society of Intimate Violence Education) which is a student organization that I co-founded with a fellow law student earlier this year. The ABA (American Bar Association) has requested that all law schools incorporate information regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) into the curriculum. My law school, although it's great in so many other areas, has really dropped the ball when it comes to teaching future attorneys about the impact of IPV on the practice of the law. The idea behind creating L.I.V.E. was to provide some degree of training and educational information to our fellow law students before they graduate and being to practice law. Additionally, we thought that it would be a good idea if we could educate the student body about the incidence of dating violence which is where these bookmarks come into the picture. During the Fall, 2010 semester L.I.V.E. received permission from the university to place displays across the campus filled with free bookmarks. So far they've been well received and if things continue to proceed this well we will be identifying other universities that are interested in continuing this pilot program.
U.S. bookmarks to prevent teen dating violence
U.K. bookmarks to prevent teen dating violence
Sponsorship opportunities
Organizations that are interested in sponsoring the manufacture of our educational cards or bookmarks are welcome to contact me. The organization would have "sponsored by Acme Widgets" (or the name of the sponsoring organization) on each card / bookmark. Sponsorship orders start at 100,000 pieces for $10,000 with distribution managed by your own organization. It's unlikely that we would be interested in handling distribution at this time (for all of the reasons mentioned above).