Bastrop teen works to prevent youth dating violence
Bastrop High School senior Jaycee Baker’s involvement in advocacy began through media. Whether it was watching TV shows or reading news online, Baker heard stories from survivors of domestic violence, stories that resonated with her and motivated her to take action.
Baker began working to raise awareness about the dangers of dating violence, something that constitutes a large part of the high school senior’s life today.
“When you hear these stories it makes you feel like you need to help stop it, and that’s exactly what happened to me,” Baker said. “I felt like I needed to raise awareness and give people opportunities to know they can get away from these relationships and know what to look for in the relationships to know if you’re in an abusive or violent relationship.”
The Texas Legal Services Center is criticizing the way the Austin school district handles sexual assault reports, after a recent Austin High School alumna says she felt blamed and silenced after she reported that a fellow student assaulted her on a school trip last year.
The teenage boy who she says assaulted her had also assaulted two other students, she said. He was not criminally charged and has since graduated, she said. I originally chose not to report it, said the now 19-year-old graduate of Austin High. But when we returned to school, I learned that the same student had assaulted someone else. So, out of concern for other students safety, I chose to report it. And from the get go, it felt like the school and staff had no idea what they were doing.