BLUE HILL — Teens hear from a young survivor then examine abuse in pop culture couples during February’s Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month
Finding Our Voices brought its innovative and relatable domestic abuse-prevention program to George Stevens Academy on Feb. 10 as the third stop of a statewide tour of classrooms from Sanford to Calais.
A 20-year-old College of the Atlantic student sharing details of emotional abuse by an intimate partner that upended her last year of high school opened the program to GSA 11th graders during February’s Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month.
The isolation, belittlement, and threats of suicide that she endured were part of a host of Power and Control tactics the GSA students then divided up in to groups to discuss and document in relationships of pop culture couples.
The three hour program was capped by the COA student and Finding Our Voices CEO/Founder Patrisha McLean leading a classroom discussion that included the dating downsides of social media and digital apps, how scarily common it is for teens to threaten to kill themselves if their partner breaks up with them, and how students can best help friends they worry are in a controlling/abusive relationship.
Anna and Hans from “Frozen”, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and Rapunzel and Mother Gothel from “Tangled” were among the couples chosen by students to focus on for the Pop Culture part of the project.
“Hans talks very rudely to her and makes her feel dumb,” GSA students Aurora, Juno, and Ruby observed about Anna’s boyfriend in “Frozen”. They also pointed out isolation tactics used by Hans such as turning Anna against her sister and manipulation in how he set out to woo Anna as a way to get on the throne.
Emily, Layla and Adie said after documenting a slew of abusive tactics used by Johnny Depp against Amber Heard during their televised court trial, “The importance and influence of media portrayal cannot be overstated. It virtually changed the whole case.”
“It was very eye opening,” a student said of the Finding Our Voices presentation. “Oftentimes when you learn about something as serious as dating abuse it is from a pamphlet or an adult outside of your age group. This was really easy to relate to.”
Another student applauded Finding Our Voices for bringing the program to middle schools as “that is where the dating abuse I went through happened.”
GSA school nurse Andrea Lopez said, “We are very lucky to have FOV as a great resource organization. It is evident in their programming and interactions that they are committed to raising awareness and helping individuals in our community and I look forward to continuing this programming with our students on a yearly basis.”
Next stops on the 2026 Finding Our Voices Love/not Love tour are Carrabec Middle School, Dexter Regional High School and Deer Isle/Stonington High School. The tour launched at MDI High School on Jan. 9 and is scheduled in 15 schools through April.
Finding Our Voices is the grassroots and survivor-powered nonprofit breaking the silence of domestic abuse around Maine and providing critical resources for women survivors to escape and rebuild their lives, including critical funding to “get out and stay out”, donated dental care and a weekly online support group. For more information visit https://findingourvoices.net and to bring the Love/not Love tour to your local school reach out to [email protected].
