It’s a talk about domestic violence but the target audience may surprise you.
Students at Jackson Middle School are here to learn the warning signs from a woman who knows all too well.
“My little niece Daniella was 18 years old. She was murdered by her husband of one month,” says Olga Rodriguez.
Rodriguez founded the organization Royalty in honor of her niece to help young girls and boys know when behavior in a relationship has gone too far.
“Hopefully they will make wise decisions to either end an abusive relationship or know not to get into one.”
Rodriguez says some of the warning signs for young girls include excessive texting by a boyfriend to find out where she is, telling her how to dress, and blaming her for his behavior.
“I know one person that it’s happened to before from a friend. But I didn’t realize it would happen to twelve other girls and there are millions of other girls too,” says student Elizabeth Hernandez.
“I thought it was a really good thing and actually help all the girls to prevent all the abusing and to be more careful about what they do and think about who they’re gonna be dating,” says student Raquel Vazquez.
Royalty’s founder hopes the students are listening.
“If I can help even one young girl get out of an abusive relationship or prevent her from going into one by sharing Daniella’s story, by sharing my family tragedy, then Daniella did not die in vain,” says Rodriguez.
