Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Have you talked to your children about dating abuse and violence?
February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness And Prevention Month, so if you haven't talked to them about this, now would be the time.
The statistics are pretty startling:
Quote:
Only 33% of teens who were in an abusive relationship ever told anyone about the abuse.
Eighty one percent of parents believe teen dating violence is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it’s an issue.
Quote:
Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.
One in three teens in the US is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
One in ten high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend.
One quarter of high school girls have been victims of physical or sexual abuse.
Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence, almost triple the national average.
Violent behavior often begins between the ages of 12 and 18.
The severity of intimate partner violence is often greater in cases where the pattern of abuse was established in adolescence.
About 72% of eighth and ninth graders are 'dating.'
I think it is important subject which is often overlooked in many families. And I doubt many people think to talk to their children about it. In families without domestic violence- like mine- most wouldn't think about it and where it is a problem, telling a teen it is wrong just directs criticism to the parents.
I have talked to my girls about saying NO and meaning it, not getting into a car unless they have permission from Dad or me and when they are older I will talk to them about domestic violence. They don't watch much TV so it will come as a shock to them but they need to know about it. Thanks for posting about this subject.
My daughter is only 9 years old and not dating, thank goodness. We have let her know there is no reason a boy/man should EVER hit a girl/lady. That no matter what, it is not ok no matter what is going on or how mad the other person is. We have also told her it's not ok for a girl to hit either.
As she gets older and into the dating scene we will of course have a more frank conversation with her.
My boys always heard the mantra "you never hit a girl". We never hit them either. Honestly, considering they were pretty rough and tumble kids, they are very physically gentle now. There never seemed to be a reason to bring up date violence per se, as any negative contact was discouraged.
But Mattie, surely your boys had/have platonic friendships with girls and had meaningful conversations with them. Some girls may feel confident talking to a male friend about this kind of violence and for that reason I think both sexes should be aware of what it is and how to respond if someone confides in them. Just because our boys would never engage in domestic violence does not mean they should not be taught what it is and how horrible it can be.
A good idea to talk to your kids about, I certainly will when my 7yr old is old enough to date.
Its interesting though, I had a strong father who would never hit a woman and even as an insecure teen I can say without a doubt that I would never have tolerated violence from anyone I dated. I hope my daughter (and my son) have the same experience.
I always talk to my son about strangers and people who are and arent supposed to touch him and how it is and isnt appropriate and I feel like domestic violence talks are just a continuation of those discussion. He isnt supposed to hit girls, but they shouldnt hit him either. I feel like a lot of parents stress the "men dont hit girls" mantra over and over but it is so overlooked that women abuse men, verbally and physically and men often dont want to tell anyone. Noone, male or female should hit their partner whether the same sex or opposite sex
My kids were well aware of the issues of violence...their Father was extremely abusive toward me for our entire marriage.
I divorced him when my kids were 3 & 6...but they still remember some things that when on.
One good thing that came out of it is that my girls are excellent judges of character.
They know the red flags to look for in people, and the've never dated anyone who had those kinds of personalities.
No, I don't bring up the issue specifically when it comes to dating. My kids are raised to never physically hurt each other and we don't allow verbal abuse in the home. I have told my daughter that if a guy hits her once it's his fault, if he hits her a second time it's her fault, that under no circumstances shouuld a woman tolerate being smacked around.
I think mostly this is prevented by having a non-violent home for kids to grow up in, learning that you never hurt the family dog, nor the family horses, cats, etc, and siblings are not allowed to do anything more than play fight which involves wrestling but no punching, hitting, clawing or scratching.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
we will of course have a more frank conversation with her.
