Teen dating violence increasing

It’s something that’s totally unacceptable, and yet amongst teenagers particularly it can go undetected and unresolved.

In the culture of violence that we increasingly live in, teens are seeing that it supposedly ‘works’ to introduce violence into their dating relationships when things aren’t going their way.

A survey carried out on 1,700 students aged between 11 and 18 by the San Diego County Domestic Violence Council is indicative of a larger problem:

• 1 in 5 said they had ‘kicked, hit, punched, pushed, shoved, shook or thrown something’ at a dating partner in the last year.
• 1 in 4 said they had kissed a partner who didn’t want it.
• 1 in 3 said it was ’sometimes’, ‘often’ or ‘always’ OK to use physical violence on a partner who flirts, threatens to break up, or ‘acts crazy’.

Parents are urged to look for warning signs that their children may be the victims or perpetrators of such activity.

Friends also need to look out for one another.

Read the full article: Take the time to confront dating violence