To prevent domestic violence, Alaska schools teach healthy relationships

The dock that leads to the Nunapitchuk school sits in early evening light on Oct. 12, 2023. Social workers from the Lower Kuskokwim School District visit village schools by small plane and boat to deliver counseling services and state-mandated lessons about healthy relationships.

He is part of a group of itinerant social workers employed by the Lower Kuskokwim School District that travel to the district’s 22 villages, none of which are on the road system. They fly, boat and snowmachine across a region about the size of West Virginia to bring lessons like this one, as well as counseling and support, to some of the hardest to reach parts of Alaska.

He said the curriculum “definitely” makes a difference. The students get it: Over the course of the presentation, which covered topics from gossip to manipulation and gaslighting, they only got one question wrong. And he knows the material is sinking in because of feedback he gets from the students later: “I had a few students this morning from the seventh and eighth graders come in to say ‘You better talk to my sister. Did you do this when my sister was here?’” he said.

However remote schools in the Lower Kuskokwim School District may be, Biela said they are not insulated from teen dating violence. He had another presentation with the older students later that afternoon and he predicted “some emotions,” flashbacks or tears — some of the students he cares for have firsthand experience, he said.

“From a health perspective, this is too important to not do,” she said, pointing to a stack of workbooks in her office. “We have to continue to give our youth tools to live healthy lives.” She said while the consequences of violence can be cascading, so, too, can be the positive results from teaching nonviolence. “It’s going to interplay not just in preventing domestic violence and sexual assault, but in being able to maintain employment, to be able to maintain housing,” she said.

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To prevent domestic violence, Alaska schools teach healthy relationshipsThe Lower Kuskokwim School District’s itinerant social workers are a model for how curriculum and mentorship can reach even the most remote schools.
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