Gabby Petito’s Parents Want Teens to Heed These Dating Warnings to Avoid Domestic Violence (Exclusive)

“Prevention is key,” says Gabby’s stepmother Tara Petito

Gabby Petito’s parents hope to raise awareness about domestic violence among school-aged children.

“Prevention is key,” Gabby’s stepmother Tara Petito tells PEOPLE. “They start dating in high school, so they need to know where to go to get resources. They also need to know the signals. They also need to know how not to be abusers.”

Tara, who volunteers at the Gabby Petito Foundation as an administrator and bookkeeper, says, “A lot of times they could just say, ‘Oh, I love you so much, let’s have a joint Snapchat.’ But that starts with checking and, “I want to see everything you do.” So they may not even realize that this is the beginning of an abusive relationship. We would like to go to schools and teach them what the signals are.”

Tara, 43, co-founded the Gabby Petito Foundation with Gabby’s father Joe Petito and Gabby’s mother Nichole Schmidt and her husband Jim shortly after the death of the 22-year-old aspiring YouTube blogger, who disappeared with her during a cross-country ski trip. fiancée Brian Laundrie in the summer of 2021.

Related: Gabby Petito’s Parents Want to Change the Way Domestic Violence is Handled in the US: ‘Laws Are Changing’ (Exclusive)

Her body was later discovered near a campground in Wyoming. Laundrie, who died by suicide, was found on Oct. 20 at a nature preserve near his family’s home in North Port, Florida, along with a backpack containing what the FBI described as a notebook “claiming responsibility” for Gabby’s death by strangulation.

The foundation focuses on raising awareness about domestic violence and creating stronger laws and policies that govern how police respond to reports of intimate partner abuse and missing persons.

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The foundation also supports the National Domestic Violence Hotline — to which they donated $100,000 in 2022 to help build the group’s capacity — along with the Black and Missing Foundation and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

“People are paying more attention to these issues, especially domestic violence,” said Nichole, who spoke on a panel with Joe, Jim and Tara at CrimeCon 2024 Nashville. “We get emails all the time from people saying, ‘Gabby saved my life. She gave me the strength to get out of my abusive relationship.” Survivors come out and tell their stories. The laws are changing and we keep fighting.”

Related: Gabby Petito’s ‘4 Parents’ Share How Her Tragic Death Fulfilled Her Lifelong Dream of Bringing Them ‘All Together’ (Exclusive)

“We have to prevent this from happening to other people,” she says. “It keeps us strong. Gabby works through us. We must move forward and change the world together.”

Adds Joe, 45, a department store chain manager who specializes in policy and legislation for the foundation: “When you help one person, you help change the course of their life in a positive way, and you want to do that again doing .”

Jim, 42, who focuses on domestic violence awareness training for first responders for the foundation, says it is “overwhelming” how many people are affected by the crime. “It really made us realize that they need a lot of help, and if we can help just one or two along the way, it goes a long way,” he says.

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Tara says the nonprofit would like to start a domestic violence prevention program for elementary, middle and high school students.

“There are programs available, so we don’t really want to reinvent the wheel, but we would love to have a free program that would allow all schools to participate in this program and help with that,” she says. “We are still learning. We try to learn as much as possible.”

“We may not see the changes happening for a few years, but kids need to know,” says Tara.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or visit thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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