Teen Action Campaign

In the fall of 2000, Jane Doe Inc. agreed to partner with private benefactors to begin the research and development of a unique prevention campaign called the Teen Action Campaign (TAC) - a public engagement campaign that aimed to move beyond raising awareness to giving young people concrete tools for action - to engage young people in creating a climate where abuse and violence are actively rejected. The formation of the Teen Action Campaign was a team effort – bringing together the movement with new media, research and creative partners. In its first year of operation, TAC conducted primary research through EDK Associates of New York to study public awareness campaigns from the last decade relating to domestic and sexual violence, which clearly showed little resources had been targeted towards teens with the goal of engaging the next generation to know the warning signs of an abusive relationship, and to have the words and actions needed to reject them in their lives and the lives of their peers. Click here to view this report, Communicating for Change.

TAC conducted one-on-one interviews and focus groups to engage teens in the creation of the messaging, and recruited a Teen Action Board, representing high school students from across Massachusetts, to guide the pro bono team of Hill Holliday Advertising, the Monitor Group and the Harvard School of Public Health, which provided the pre- and post-campaign testing. Research results are available here.The Teen Action Campaign is now a separate 501c3 charitable organization, partnered with the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the National Network to End Domestic Violence and the Advertising Council, and together, they launched the pilot campaign called See It And Stop It in Boston MA in October of 2003. The campaign began its national rollout in February of 2004, and features television, radio, print and collateral advertising, as well as teen toolkits, and a website hosted by founding partner AOL, called seeitandstopit.org. Many of Jane Doe's member organizations played an important role in distributing materials to teens in their area about See It And Stop It, and Jane Doe Inc. is proud to have played a role in the beginning stages of the TAC, an innovative, action-oriented approach to ending teen dating violence and sexual assault.

Our coalition and members offer the TAC every encouragement to continue to combine education, grassroots organization, public engagement and action among teens to bring about prevention and the ultimate reduction in the incidence of domestic and sexual violence. This is real change. Note: All research, studies, analyses, reports and promotional materials of See It And Stop It are the sole property of the Teen Action Campaign, Inc. The Teen Action Campaign is privately funded, and neither seeks nor accepts government funding which is sorely needed for direct service providers within the community. To find out more, visit seeitandstopit.org or contact Julie@teenactioncampaign.org or Marjorie@teenactioncampaign.org.