Several Revere High School organizations and sports teams recently attended a seminar regarding the impact and consequences of domestic violence and rape.

On August 23, RHS bused members of the Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams, the Volleyball team, the Football team, and the Student Council to the seminar at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse where judges, attorneys, Rape Crisis Center representatives and Whoaman founder Tyrone “Coach Ty” White spoke about creating healthy relationships and fighting domestic violence and rape. White proposed the idea for the workshop at the Ohio Association of Student Councils state conference last April. His Whoaman organization hopes to spread awareness about domestic violence and plans on releasing a documentary.

The seminar taught attendees the signs of abusive relationships and how to resist them and shared stories from people who have experienced them. RHS guidance counselor Jenny Kirchner helped organize Revere’s attendance. She spoke of the lessons that the seminar demonstrated.

“The program taught students to be a good bystander… [and not to] just stand around and know that [domestic violence] is happening,” Kirchner said.

The speakers explained that anyone can help fight domestic violence. Attendees learned to recognize unhealthy and abusive relationships and know when and how to intervene. RHS running back Clayton Langdon stated how the seminar taught him to stay aware.

“[They explained that we can] never know what happens behind closed doors, so never just assume,” Langdon said.

The variety of speakers in attendance showed the wide impact of domestic violence. RHS offensive lineman Harrison Bullock realized the scale of the issue, stating that abuse “affects people more than [he’d thought].”

The seminar also taught how the severe effects of the punishments damage the lives of perpetrators. RHS junior and Volleyball player Viktoria Farian noted the severity of these crimes and their punishments.

“[The punishment] could ruin your life and career,” Farian said.

After the seminar, the attendees took a pledge to resist domestic violence. They left with a greater awareness of the issue and the methods needed to combat it.