In memory of Ba

The recent death of senior Rokiatou Ba shocked the Blair community. The poster in the ESOL hallway rapidly filled with heartfelt goodbyes. As the memorial scroll is removed, we must move beyond our initial sadness and use our grief to examine the cause of Ba's death and to ensure that no one else suffers her fate.

Domestic violence is treated as a minor problem in the current curriculum. According to health teacher Susan Soulé, students spend no more than one period per semester discussing abuse in her classes. In a nation where one in every five female high school students is physically or sexually abused by a dating partner, domestic violence is a problem requiring more than 90 minutes of classroom discussion.

A survey conducted by a private research company in the spring of 2000 reported that almost half of all teens were interested in learning more about abuse. According to Michaele Cohen, executive director of the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, students are not getting the facts they want. "We have a lot of information that people are sometimes reluctant to give to teens," she says. In the wake of such a tragic event, the necessity for the availability of such information is clear.

Blair needs to establish a program through which students can be educated about domestic violence. Students who are abused need to know where they can go to get help. Soulé describes domestic violence as a cycle that is never broken because students do not realize the severity of abusive relationships. "The biggest way to break the cycle is through education. Teaching values. Respect," says Soulé.

A lack of self-esteem often puts teens in potentially abusive relationships and keeps them in dangerous situations, Cohen believes. "We know that teens don't recognize this. They may perceive the possessiveness and jealousy associated with violent behavior as flattering, and it isn't," she says.

Abuse programs and hotlines at the county, state and national levels have the resources to inform students about abuse and to teach them the values that Soulé believes can cut down on domestic violence. The information is out there; we need it here. Blair has the chance to pilot a program that deals specifically with domestic violence. Blair should create a domestic violence program similar to its AIDS education program in which students educate and support each other.

The development of a domestic violence program at Blair would shed light on what has been treated in the past as a private problem. When a killing so reprehensible happens so close to home, the problem can no longer be private.

For more info about domestic violence visit http://www.ndvh.org, or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233