As another school year begins, campus safety is on the minds of parents and students alike. It seems a week doesn’t go by without hearing a report of a student being sexually assaulted on a college campus, or at times an unsatisfactory response by a university. The safety of students attending schools here on Long Island, and beyond, is a prime concern for The Safe Center.
In conjunction with the Nassau County Police Department and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, we have put together informational meetings for key staff from area colleges, helping them navigate the difficult waters of Title IX and aiding their response to allegations of campus rape and sexual assault. We’ve given special training to staff from Adelphi, LIU Post, NYIT, and Molloy, to help them better meet the needs of their students at some of the most difficult times- and we are speaking with other schools as well.
Our education staff is also working hard to train students themselves on how to prevent, recognize and respond to rape and sexual violence. The new “law of the land” in NY State is “Yes Means Yes”, known as positive consent, and we’re helping learning communities to make this transition and strengthen safety for all.
Prevention Begins Early
We realize that the attitudes and values which have allowed sexual assault to proliferate start way before college age, and are reinforced over years. That is why The Safe Center offers special trainings for students in high schools and middle schools across Nassau County to help them explore their understanding of relationship safety, and empower them to know that there is no such thing as an “innocent bystander” when it comes to issues of dating violence, rape and sexual assault. To date, we have trained thousands of students in the Safe Dates program, with very positive results.
We’re Ready
Staff from The Safe Center are ready and willing to speak with your community group, faith group, business, school or organization on any of the important issues we deal with. A community which knows more about sexual assault, intimate partner violence and child abuse is in a better position to keep its children, as well as its adults, safer and healthier. For information on The Safe Center’s trainings, email our Education Department at training@tscli.org
Anthony Zenkus, Director of Education