I finish my studies on Throwaway Teen Abuse Prevention. In the next few weeks I will be turning this into a power point presentation and putting it out to the public on June 10, 2009 at my local university to faculty, students and the public. Through a grant I received from our tribal foundation and sponsored by my local shelter, I am able to give my presentation at three venues. The second presentation will be at the local library in town and the third will be a the university's Writing 131 class during summer session. As some of you know, I come to this topic because of my own story. I was a throwaway, a kid who grew up with violence and neglect at home. I was abandoned and left vulnerable as a teen, that in my case, made me "easy" to approach and seduce by John Holmes.
I don't always understand why it doesn't sound strange to people that a 32 year old porn star was seeking out the company of a 15 year old kid. He buddied up to my dad and sold him pot. My dad looked the other way. In truth, everyone looked the other way. Why?
As I conducted my research for this presentation, it truly sucked discovering how much of a statistic I was. Along with the overwhelming government statistics I found, I also uncovered terrible hidden narratives, short stories written anonymously in classrooms, that to me, more accurately represents the many unreported teens living today in painful and unfair circumstances. Knowing this also made me very aware that I was/am not the only one, and ignites my passion to raise awareness and educate communities to prevent and care for these throwaway teens.
Stay tuned please. The more I discover the more I want to share the hope.
Dawn