Press Release  AG Healey Selects High Schools Across the State to Receive Violence Prevention Training for Second Phase of Game Change Program

Boston —  Attorney General Maura Healey today announced that 34 high schools from 10 counties across the state will receive an on-site, in-depth training on violence prevention in the next phase of Game Change, the office’s anti-violence partnership with the New England Patriots.

Beginning this fall and continuing throughout the 2016-2017 school year, staff from Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) will provide direct trainings on preventing relationship violence to more than 1,000 high school students. Trained students will be equipped to teach their younger peers about healthy relationships and bystander intervention.

“With Game Change, our goal is to stop cycles of violence by intervening at an early age,” said AG Healey. “We’re teaching young people about healthy relationships, empowering them to treat each other with respect, and giving them the tools they need to prevent and address relationship violence in their own lives and in their communities.”

“We are excited to continue our work with Attorney General Healey and her team to prevent relationship violence, particularly among young people,” said Patriots Chairman and CEO Bob Kraft. “We need to tackle this problem from all angles – through preventive measures like Game Change, and by providing resources for survivors in the aftermath of trauma.”

Run by the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, MVP is a nationwide leader in addressing relationship violence and sexual assault. The Attorney General’s Office and the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation have also partnered to award more than $250,000 in grant funding to six sexual assault and domestic violence service organizations.

Throughout this school year, staff from each agency will work with schools in their area to implement the MVP curriculum and to ensure that appropriate policies are in place for students, families, and staff who may be experiencing or witnessing violence.

During the first phase of Game Change, which ran from January through May 2016, nearly 200 staff from 90 high schools and nine domestic violence organizations across the state were trained in the MVP curriculum.

At each of the 34 participating schools, 30 students will be trained as peer leaders in anti-violence strategies. Those peer leaders will work with educators and coaches at their school, and with staff from their local sexual assault and domestic violence service provider, to implement the MVP curriculum in their school over the long term.

The list of schools that participated in the first phase of Game Change is available here.

The schools participating in the second phase of Game Change are:

For more information about Game Change, please visit www.mass.gov/ago/gamechange  or contact the Policy and Government Division at 617-963-2700 or AGOPolicyandGovernment@state.ma.us.

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