Verizon Wireless’ UHopeLine Empowers Students to Break the Silence of Dating Violence

By: Cameka Crawford

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, a month dedicated to preventing the widespread issue of dating violence amongst young people. Unfortunately, dating and domestic violence is an issue too many teens have to encounter. According to Break the Cycle and the National Dating Abuse Helpline, one in three teens will experience abuse in a dating relationship and more than two-thirds of them will never report it to anyone.

Join Verizon Wireless in our efforts to address the growing issue of dating violence. Want to spread the message of dating violence prevention on your campus? UHopeLine, an extension of Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine® from Verizon, helps spread awareness of dating violence on college campuses and encourages students to give back to victims of domestic violence by donating no-longer-used wireless devices through student-hosted phones drives and permanent collection boxes. Donated devices are recycled or refurbished and turned into support for domestic violence victims in the form of phones with 3,000 minutes of free service or cash grants, which are then used to support domestic violence organizations across the country.

UHopeLine is making it easy for college students to get involved with the launch of a new online tool kit. This free kit includes prevention resources for students who wish to raise awareness of dating violence and give back to those who have been affected. The kit enables college administrators, student volunteer organizations and others interested in conducting outreach on college campuses to access the tools necessary to host phone drives and spread the message of prevention. Available resources include flyers, pledge cards and other printed materials to help launch dating and domestic violence awareness campaigns on campuses across the country.

The simplest act can make a difference! Interested in bringing UHopeLine to your campus? Visit www.verizonwireless.com/uhopeline to access resources, join the conversation on social media and find out more information on the program.