Eighth-graders at Jefferson Middle School will be the first students in the District to take a course to prevent digital dating abuse. “It’s a good time to do it — start with a school that doesn’t do [digital dating abuse] and then they’ll actually share it with other children, their own peers as to why it’s not a good thing to do,” said school counselor Nedra Jones. Administrators at the downtown school wants to prevent future problems with dating abuse, although Jones said there is no problem currently. The curriculum covers all kinds of dating abuse from sexting to cyberbullying to sending harassing e-mails.

Jones will teach the curriculum, called Love is Not Abuse, which includes what dating abuse is, what it looks like and how to prevent it. The school also is planning to bring in legal professionals