DATE: 2/27/06

CONTACT: Kerry Coffey, (864) 656-0312, kcoffey@clemson.edu

or Jennifer Boyles, Clemson Extension, (843) 616-0786, jbyls@clemson.edu

WRITER: Kerry Coffey, (864) 656-0312

CCCC “Violence Hurts Everyone” Poster Contest

Gallery Opening and Awards Celebration

CHESTERFIELD –- Local high school and middle students recently participated in the “Violence Hurts Everyone” poster contest sponsored by the Stop the Violence committee of the Chesterfield County Coordinating Council (CCCC).

Award winners will be announced at the “Violence Hurts Everyone” Gallery Opening and Awards Celebration on March 2 beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The ceremony and gallery opening will be at the The Old Courthouse in the Olde Town Centre with assistance provided by the Chesterfield County Arts Council. This event is open to the public.

More than 25 posters were received and cash awards of $100 for 1 st place, $75 for 2 nd and $50 for 3 rd place will be given to winners from three division including A) grades 7 to 8, B) grades 9 to 10 and C) grades 11 to 12.

The contest was open to any high school or middle school age youth. Entries were received from individuals as well as individuals representing local schools and organizations.

Students from all four high schools in Chesterfield County including Pageland, McBee, Cheraw and Chesterfield participated in the contest. Youth at the Cheraw Boys and Girls Club participated as well.

This poster contest is one of the many ways that the Stop the Violence project is being implemented in Chesterfield County.

Stop the Violence, a project resulting from a grant received by the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life (IFNL) at Clemson University, Clemson Extension and the CCCC, is an intervention program that targets young women ages 12-18 and seeks to reduce the prevalence and incidence of intimate partner and family violence against girls and young women in Chesterfield County.

“The ‘Violence Hurts Everyone’ poster contest complements ongoing efforts within the county to educate youth about healthy relationships,” explained Margaret Plettinger Mitchell, director of the CCCC.

Mitchell elaborated that hundreds of students have learned to detect “warning signs” in their own and others’ behaviors as a result of classes offered at two schools using a nationally recognized Safe Dates curriculum. This information has been shared for the past two years in prom gift bags and in crisis cards distributed to local florists through corsage orders.

IFNL and the CCCC originally received a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services in 2003.

“We are excited about this opportunity showcases the talent of our local youth and educates them about the devastating affects of violence,” said Jennifer Boyles, local Clemson Extension agent. “Estimates from anonymous surveys suggest that two-thirds of middle and high school students in Chesterfield County know someone involved in a violent relationship and nearly as many report seeing acts of intimate violence.”

The IFNL’s mission is to generate, share and apply the knowledge needed to strengthen ties between families and communities. For more information on the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life and the upcoming teleconference, visit http://www.clemson.edu/ifnl.

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