To educate youth and commemorate Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. hosted a special program at Epic High School South in South Ozone Park on February 27, 2026. Experts took over four classes to present information about subjects like consent and healthy relationships. They also tabled during lunchtime in the cafeteria to distribute educational materials.

“Teen dating violence is preventable, and education is one of the first lines of defense,” Addabbo said. “This initiative seeks to empower students with the knowledge, resources, and support they deserve to build healthy, respectful relationships now and in the future.”

The presenters were: Zosia Alarr, Senior Advocate with the Safe Horizon Crime Victim Assistance Program; and Dr. Coralanne Griffith-Hunte, a Human, Industrial, and Trauma Psychologist. Additional support services were provided by Emma Grinspoon, Outreach Coordinator with Day One, a non-profit serving youth age 24 and under to end dating abuse and domestic violence.

Dating violence can be emotional, physical, sexual or really any form of abuse between two people who are dating, Alarr said, therefore understanding the idea of consent, when something is happening to someone without their permission, is so important.

“If you feel uncomfortable conveying that you don’t feel safe in a relationship because you think there might be backlash or a threat that comes with that, that’s when it might be time to take a closer look at the relationship and maybe reach out for some support because I want you to be in a relationship where you can clearly state your wants and your needs.” Allar said. “At Safe Horizon, we understand that consent can be really confusing and unfortunately, it is very normal to have these experiences that make you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, but we can help, call us. We have a 24/7 hotline.”

To explain consent in straightforward terms, Allar used the acronym “FRIES,” which stands for: Freely Given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic and Specific. For example, in the case of freely given, that aspect means a person agrees without any external factors that make them agree, like a threat. If someone asks: “Can I have a fry? If you say no, I'll hit you,” then that consent is not freely given. Reversible means a person can initially agree to something but also has the right to ask for the action to stop if they no longer feel comfortable with what’s happening.  For example, “I said you could have one fry, now you're taking more, it's my right to say stop.”

Dr. Griffith-Hunte spoke about the relationship spectrum. Healthy relationships, she explained, have open, calm communication, while unhealthy relationships may be characterized by mistrust, and abusive relationships may include control by one partner. She also spoke about emotional intelligence which promotes facts over feelings and includes self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation and social skills. She also spoke about loving oneself. 

“The most important relationship you are going to have on the face of the earth is the relationship you have with yourself,” Dr. Griffith-Hunte said. “That’s why I titled my presentation – ‘Healthy Relationships: Loving Me Before You’ – because the expectation is that you would love yourself before you could offer it to anyone else. No one gets to define who you are, the fact that you have value, the fact that you should be empowered and encouraged and know that you don’t have to be the same as anyone else, and that’s OK.”

Dr. Griffith-Hunte also spoke about “sounding the harm alarm,” meaning letting a friend know when they may be in an unhealthy relationship, if they can’t see it for themselves. For example, she compared it to holding up a mirror. She explained that people don’t walk around holding a mirror in front of their face. They rely on their friends or people around them to notice if their hair is out of place or they have food on their face. What might be obvious to people outside the relationship is sometimes more easily seen than the people in the relationship. 

The principal of the school, Dr. Subhas Mohan, commenting on the importance of the presentations, echoed similar sentiments. “You are seniors. You are about to transition into college, and you are going to be placed in situations where you’re going to have to understand what it means to give consent. In our community, more often than we would like to believe that it happens, young people get violated because they don’t have the sense of belonging and the sense of strength you need to have in order to say no. The ability to recognize your boundaries and communicate them is something that we all struggle with it.”

Emma Grinspoon from Day One tabled with Alarr from Safe Horizon and both gave out informational materials in the cafeteria during lunchtime. Grinspoon engaged students by inviting them to play a version of Hedbanz using index cards with relationship-related terms written on them.

Last year, Senator Addabbo hosted a similar Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month at John Adams High School.

“I want to thank Epic High School South, Principal Dr. Subhas Mohan, and Assistant Principal Clidege Pierre for being so open to hosting this program,” Addabbo said. “I also want to thank Dr. Coralanne Griffith-Hunte and our partners from Safe Horizon and Day One for their participation and support of our community and our youth. I am hopeful the information relayed to the students at Epic High School South could be helpful someday for them.

The Safe Horizon 24/7 hotline can be reached at (800)- 621-4673 (HOPE). The Day One helpline can be reached at (800) 214-4150.