Get Smart About Teen Dating Violence

This week is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week, and if anything, the much-reported altercation between Chris Brown and Rhianna last weekend only shows that no one is safe from this serious trend. Teen dating violence is a described as “a pattern of controlling behaviors by one teenager over another teenager with whom they are in a dating relationship.” And it’s more common than you might think. Here are some surprising facts and statistics:

• 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner
• 1 in 3 teens reports knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, or physically hurt by their dating partner
• only 33% of teens who were in an abusive relationship ever told anyone about the abuse

Wow. Those are some pretty shocking figures, especially that last one. Because if people aren’t opening up and getting real about what’s really going on, nothing’s ever going to change.

If you’re in a relationship and something doesn’t quite feel right to you, listen to that voice inside your gut. Because a healthy relationship should never make you feel bad, insecure, worthless, disrespected, or guilty.

Here’s an abridged list of signs of an abusive relationship as outlined by the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Something’s not right in your relationship if your a boyfriend or girlfriend:

• calls you names, puts you down, or belittles you in front of other people
• checks up on you through text messages/phone calls to see where you are/who you are with
• keeps you away from your friends and family
• has to know where you are and who you are with at all times, and insists that you spend all your time together
• checks up on you at home, work, and school and insists you carry a cell phone so he/she can reach you
• threatens to hurt himself/herself or others if you break up with him/her

For more information, and to find out how to help yourself or a friend in an abusive relationship, check out Love is Not Abuse, End Abuse, or See it and Stop it.

UPDATE: Check out MTV’s video on teen dating violence here!