My capstone project is set out to answer the question: How can I help teens recognize the signs of domestic abuse and access the resources they need to protect themselves? This project hits very close to home, as I lost both my cousin and god sister this past year due to domestic violence. My first idea was to create a boy’s group at my school to focus on navigating healthy relationships, until I realized that not everyone will feel comfortable sharing their personal experiences face to face. To make my project comfortable and more accessible I shifted my focus to creating a website for teens and young adults. The process started with researching different types of abuse, emotional, physical, verbal, etc. I held interviews, collected data, and structured the design and plan of the website. The final project is an interactive site that includes my personal experiences, abuse warning signs, self assessment quizzes, and links to hotlines and professional support services. My goal was to provide a tool that could offer guidance and support privately. Through this process I learned about development and design, presenting sensitive topics in a thoughtful and empowering way, and most importantly I learned how to turn my personal pain into purpose by creating something that could help others recognize abuse in the early stages and find the resources needed to stay safe.

https://sites.google.com/slabeeber.org/knowyourworth-org?usp=sharing

https://sites.google.com/slabeeber.org/antibullying/home?authuser=0 (link to the website)