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How might a teenager be affected by domestic violence? Adults are quick to minimize the experience of abuse in budding and younger relationships by labeling it as puppy love, crushes, or young love. In reality, many young adults can experience intense domestic violence within their own relationships, vicariously through their friends’ relationships, and within their own homes. Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year. Violent relationships in adolescence can have serious ramifications by putting the victims at higher risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual behavior, and further domestic violence.
The Healthy Relationship program has inundated the community with its’ rich programming over the past three years. Implementation of Safe Dates has occurred in both Brockton High School and New Heights health class, Mass Hire, Choices for Teens, and the Peer Mediation group at Brockton High School. Young people in the community have thanked the Educators from the HRGP, and have proclaimed the information to be extremely useful and realistic. Students are gaining the skills to garner the three pillars of all healthy relationships: trust, respect, and communication.
Parents and educators must foster a deeper and more accurate awareness of what teen dating violence is in order to avoid it, especially among preteens and very young teenagers. Here are some things parents can do to prevent teen dating violence:
- Help Teens Recognize Warning Signs
- Empower Bystanders with Ideas on How to Get Help
- Become a Trusted Information Source
- Talk about Healthy and Unhealthy Behaviors
- Create a "No Secrets" Policy
"True prevention is not waiting for bad things to happen; it's preventing things from happening in the first place." Don McPherson
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