Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month at Safety Net: A Month in Review

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Four orange silhouttes of teens - a sitting boy with coiled hair, a girl with shoulder-length straight hair, a Little Person boy in a wheelchair, and a woman with coiled hair carrying objects. The background is a purple heart-shaped digital maze

February always invites us to pause and reflect closely on young people and their relationships: the joy, vulnerability, and very real risks that can show up in both digital and in-person spaces. At the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM) is always a call to equip the trusted adults in young people’s lives with tools that are grounded, practical, and, of course, survivor-centered. But this year, amid a rapidly evolving technological landscape and emerging avenues for abuse, that work has felt all the more urgent.

Technology is not ancillary to teen relationships: it is the ecosystem. And so, throughout TDVAM, our focus was clear: to meet young people where they are, and to support the adults and advocates who show up for them.

Launching Chronically Online: A New Tech Chat Series

In recognition of TDVAM, we were proud to launch Chronically Online, our new three-part Tech Chat series, alongside a comprehensive Companion Guide. As always, all resources are available in English and Spanish, with closed captioning in both languages.

These sessions were designed to create space for meaningful conversations about how technology shapes young people’s lives.

  • Segment 1: How Technology Impacts Youth explored how young people use tech for connection and creativity, and how it can also introduce risks and harm.

  • Segment 2: Healthy Relationships and Teens examined what healthy teen relationships can look like, how technology can support or complicate those dynamics, and how to have open, non-judgmental conversations about boundaries and digital behavior.

  • Segment 3: Prevention and Response for Educators and Service Providers centered practical strategies recognizing concerning behaviors and supporting youth safety, while respecting autonomy and building trust.

We have also continuously elevated our Teens and Technology Toolkit, which continues to be one of the most practical collections of resources for anyone supporting young people available online. From digital consent and digital breakups, to location-sharing risks, bystander intervention, and new resources on popular apps and online dating warning signs, the Toolkit reflects on the foundational truths that Safety Net has long championed: technology is not the problem, abuse is.

“Me, Myself, and AI”: Showing Up for Youth in the Age of Generative AI

This month, we also hosted Me, Myself, and AI: Children, Youth, and Online Risks in the Age of Generative AI, featuring Audace Garnett (Director of Safety Net), Diana Freed of Brown University, and Julio Poveda of the University of Maryland.

The response was overwhelming, with over 1,000 webinar registrants and extensive feedback from attendees. Of them, 99% of survey respondents said they would recommend a Safety Net training to a coworker, 91% plan to share the materials within their organizations, and two-thirds said they will definitely implement what they learned.

Participants also shared that the training helped them understand concepts such as the depth of teen engagement with AI chatbots; the risks of AI companions, nudification apps, and deepfakes; how and why youth may turn to AI before reaching out to trusted adults; and the enduring dynamics of power and control in new digital forms.

One comment captured something we hold close:

“A good reminder at the beginning of the training was that technology is not the problem, abuse is. As well as that technology changes HOW abuse happens, NOT WHY.”

And there were the reflections on the leadership of Audace Garnett, Director of the Safety Net Project. Participants described her as knowledgeable, passionate, humorous, engaging: someone who “kept my attention the whole time,” and whose energy made complex, rapidly evolving topics feel navigable rather than overwhelming.

If there was one clear theme in the feedback we received during this webinar, and that we receive in general, it was that advocates need more time to learn about these developments. Many participants wanted deeper safety planning strategies and additional space for implementation conversations. Others asked for more trainings and support around how to talk to youth, how to identify deepfakes, and how to support young people navigating AI-driven environments.

TDVAM may be one month, but this work is ongoing. And the rise of generative AI is fundamentally reshaping how youth connect, cope, explore, and sometimes harm one another. Our work is to help advocates prepare.

And so we will continue to expand guidance specific to AI-driven risks, equip educators and advocates with practical, survivor-centered tools, and center youth autonomy, especially for young people facing the most heightened risk.

We are endlessly grateful for the advocates, educators, prevention specialists, and service providers who joined us this month, and who show up for young people every day, because while TDVAM may be over until next February, we are dedicated to advocating for youth tech safety year-round.