‘Love/not Love’: Students hear from survivors of abuse
From left, Adie Allen, Emily Young and Leila Hutchins identify abusive relationship flags as reported during the court trial involving Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, as well as the media's role in shaping public perception. Photo by Patrisha McLean.
Feb. 16, 2026
By staff
BLUE HILL—George Stevens Academy hosted the “Love/not Love” dating abuse awareness tour on Feb. 9 as the first of three peninsula schools participating in the multi-faceted program.
The Maine-based organization Finding Our Voices met with 11th graders during Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month.
The event opened with a 20-year-old College of the Atlantic student sharing details of abuse by an intimate partner that upended her senior year of high school, according to a press release. Students learned about the pattern of power and control in relationships that include isolation, belittling, and social media stalking.
Students then broke into groups to identify and document these tactics in the relationship of a pop culture couple, including the allegations of actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, each of whom sued the other in a lengthy court case that was televised in 2022.
The COA student and Finding Our Voices CEO and founder Patrisha McLean led a classroom discussion that included examples of abusive social media behavior, when protective caring veers into control, and how students can best help friends who are in controlling and abusive relationships.
Through feedback forms submitted after the Finding Our Voices visit, one student reported appreciating that the abuse related by the COA student was not physical but emotional.
"It was very eye opening," another student said. "Oftentimes when you learn about something as serious as dating abuse it is from a pamphlet or an adult outside of your age group. This was really easy to relate to.”
Another student applauded Finding Our Voices for bringing the program to middle schools as "that is where the dating abuse I went through happened.”
According to school nurse Andrea Lopez, the training helped students “to recognize yellow and red flags in relationships and how to navigate the complexities around leaving those relationships.”
The organization will also visit Deer Isle/Stonington High School. The tour launched at MDI High School in early January. It will continue in April in high schools and middle schools from York to Washington counties.
Finding Our Voices describes itself as “a grassroots and survivor-powered nonprofit breaking the silence of domestic abuse around Maine and providing critical resources for women survivors to escape and rebuild their lives, including funding, donated dental care, and an online support group.”
In July, the nonprofit is bringing back its "Into the Light!" fundraiser to the Blue Hill Peninsula that last year was supported by more than 65 local businesses. For more information visit the organization’s website.
Finding Our Voices brought its dating abuse awareness program to GSA during February's Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month. Pictured here is school nurse Andrea Lopez, second from left, with GSA students. Photo by Patrisha McLean.
