WORCESTER - The before and after photos of celebrities examined by a group of Sullivan Middle School girls last week were striking. Minus the Photoshop editing, Kim Kardashian has cellulite, Jennifer Lawrence has curvy thighs as well as noticeable abdominal and arm muscles, and Beyonce has a broader nose and darker skin.
"She looks really white," one student commented about the edited version of Beyonce Knowles, who is African-American.
Maggie Nicholson, a team leader for community-based services at the YWCA, and Jennifer Daly from Girls Inc. led the seventh- and eighth-grade girls in a discussion about media portrayals of women and the pressure - even by doctoring images - to look a certain way.
The Photoshop exercise was part of the Girls Promoting Safety class that the two organizations have offered over the past dozen or so years at the city's middle schools. It is funded by the United Way of Central Massachusetts' Women's Initiative.
Besides learning to recognize social and media pressure, girls talk about what they can do to feel good about themselves, such as writing in their own beauty books about what beauty means to them and replacing negative attitudes with positive affirmation.
"The more we tell ourselves something, the more we believe it," Ms. Nicholson said. "Talk about what we're good at."
It's just one of a yearlong series of exercises designed to prevent violence and help girls develop skills that help them avoid or prevent their involvement with domestic violence.
"All the stuff we do now, research shows it helps prevent dating violence," Ms. Nicholson said.
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and several area groups that work with young people highlighted how common the problem is. Social media, with its ability to pressure or shame others, has fueled avenues for dating violence.
Dating violence occurs on a spectrum of controlling, abusive behavior and as with adult domestic violence, can end tragically in injury or death.
One in three girls in the U.S. is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence, according to a report by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency posted on the LoveIsRespect.org website.
"It is still one of the more underreported types of violence affecting youth. We know it's a lot more common than it should be," said Jessica L. Griffin, assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at University of Massachusetts Medical School. Ms. Griffin, who has a doctorate in psychology, also is the executive director and principal investigator at the Child Trauma Training Center.
She said, "It has really significant risks on their psychological functioning and their physical health," including sleep disturbances, significant anxiety and depression, and increased drug and alcohol use.
"The prevalence always shocks me, and also how insidious dating abuse starts," Ms. Nicholson said. "When someone is really controlling early in a relationship, it can look like passion and romance."
Kathy Odgren, director of programs at Girls Inc., said one girl in the GPS program disclosed to a friend that she was the victim of sexual assault and learned that others at her school had also been assaulted. "It turned out it was part of a gang initiation," Ms. Odgren said.
She said the curriculum can be adapted to girls' changing needs and local trends.
The definition of dating violence is broad, but according to Ms. Nicholson warning signs include: Any disrespect early on, such as putting a girl down or conversely putting her on an unrealistic pedestal; talking negatively about past partners; disrespecting boundaries such as going through a partner's phone and calling all the time; isolating a girl from her friends or family; and jealousy and moving really quickly in a relationship. Coming from a violent home is a risk factor, but girls learn they don't have to repeat that behavior.
"We're helping them develop confidence. They find it super empowering to talk about these issues," Ms. Nicholson said.
Relationships have changed in the last generation in a major way with the proliferation of social media and young people having smartphones from a very young age.
"What really scares me is they have so much access to social media... that can get them in unsafe situations that they don't even realize," Ms. Odgren said, talking about relationships that develop online with people who aren't who they pretend to be.
Ms. Nicholson added that while social media can provide support, it's very public. "When things go wrong, social media is there to publicize it," she said.
"Images are more pronounced now and our students at this age are so media focused," said Laura A. Murphy, assistant dean of students and director of counseling at Worcester State University.
Social media adds to the pressure to be in a relationship. "Even if it's negative attention, they rationalize it. It's better than nothing," she said.