February is recognized nationally as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Abuse does not discriminate by age. In fact, 1.3 million teens in the U.S. are victims of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. And only 33% of teens who were in a violent relationship ever told anyone about the abuse. To bring light to the issue that affects so many young people in our community, the American Samoa Alliance against Sexual and Domestic Violence will host a PSA (Public Service Announcement) contest to get young people talking and thinking about their relationships. These PSA’s are intended to give teens the opportunity to inform their peers about what abusive relationships look like, the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship, and the resources available to anyone who is struggling or has questions.

The contest invites the youth ages 14-20 years old to create 60-second videos addressing their peers about issues including teen dating abuse and healthy relationships. The winning video will be integrated into Alliance social media outreach campaign on Teen Dating Violence and will be shared in future presentations.

​Alliance is excited to announce that Bluesky is our partner in this event. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate how instruments of communication impact our young people greatly in social relationships, which can have a positive and negative effect on their lives. Bluesky will also televise the winning video on their channels for maximum awareness and education on Teen Dating Violence during the year. The deadline for this contest is February 24, 2020. There will be a screening and awards ceremony where all videos entered will be shown, and awards announced. This screening and awards ceremony is an important part of the process we need to celebrate the hard work and accomplish of each group. This screening will take place on Saturday February 29, 2020, the first and second place winners will be announced. If you have any questions about the contest, please email marilynhc.asadsv@gmail.com or eleanorsogialofa@gmail.com