Anoka County Press Release

 
COACHING BOYS INTO MEN CAMPAIGN DEBUTS IN ANOKA COUNTY   

Boys don’t always know how to relate to girls and women in a positive, nonviolent way.  They look for male role models to teach them. That’s the message the Domestic Violence Council, an action team of the Alliance for a Violence-free Anoka County, will be sharing through a new public education campaign, Coaching Boys into Men, to be launched in March.

According to the Domestic Violence Council, children today are often swamped with messages about violence from TV, movies, video games, music, peers, and sometimes even family members. Those messages may give conflicting ideas on what it means to be a “man,” negatively impacting relationships with the opposite sex.  Coaching Boys into Men, a national campaign developed by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, reminds fathers, uncles, friends, or caring male adults that they are in a unique position to educate boys about treating women in a nonviolent manner as an important part of being a man.

The Domestic Violence Council is partnering with the Anoka County Child Abuse Prevention Council (another Alliance action team), Alexandra House, and Sheriff Bruce Andersohn to distribute advertisements, posters and brochures promoting the message that all men have a part to play in helping our boys understand their role in preventing violence against women. The public education efforts will challenge men to become more involved in volunteer activities that may positively affect boys’ development into men. 

The Council will share suggestions on volunteer opportunities for men in Anoka County, according to Donna McDonald, co-chair of the Anoka County Domestic Violence Council.

“Our Council feels this research based campaign, sends a positive message about educating our young boys on respecting women. We chose to add information about volunteering because even small, positive actions can make a key difference in the life of a boy,” McDonald said.

A July 2007 report from the Minnesota Department of Health, “Costs of Sexual Violence in Minnesota,” reported that in 2005, more than 61,000 Minnesota residents were sexually assaulted.  Four of every five people assaulted were female. The cost was almost $8 billion in 2005, or $1,540 per resident.  The report notes that sexual violence costs 3.3 times as much as alcohol-impaired driving in Minnesota.

For more information about the campaign or volunteer opportunities for men, contact Donna McDonald, Violence Prevention Coordinator, Anoka County Community Health, 763-422-7047, donna.mcdonald@co.anoka.mn.us. Materials from the Coaching Boys into Men campaign can be found at www.anokacounty.us/news .

page last updated - 03/06/2008

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