Boarding Schools for Girls

On May 3, KTRK-13 (an ABC affiliate in Houston, Texas) aired a news segment by about teen dating violence that demonstrated a startling disconnect between the prevalence of teen dating violence and parents' awareness of the degree to which the problem has permeated today's youth culture. In the segment, KTRK's Sharron Melton cited the following statistics:

According to the US Bureau of Justice, about one in three high school girls have been, or will be pushed, slapped or hit by a boyfriend. And 40 percent of girls between the ages of 14 and 17 know someone their age who has been abused. ...

According to a survey by the National Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative, 81 percent of parents say they do not believe dating violence is an issue, and 54 percent admit they have not even spoken to their child about dating violence.

Though dating violence is a significant problem among young people, many adolescents and teenagers are not able to identify signs that they are in an abusive relationship -- and many who are being abused do not know how to escape the violence.

Experts advise all parents of teenagers to educate themselves and their children about the signs and dangers of teen dating violence, and to take action if they suspect that their teen is involved in an abusive relationship.

Labels: relationships, teenagers, violence, dating

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About three percent of teenaged girls experience physical or sexual assault from boyfriends or on dates, according to a new study from the Medical University of South Carolina. The abuse rate is probably higher, experts believe, because the researchers did not look into verbal abuse and less serious assaults such as slapping and shoving.

Dr. Kate Wolitzky-Taylor and her colleagues interviewed a national sample of both boys and girls ages 12 to 17 years old, and found that 2.7 of girls and 0.6 of boys had been victims of dating violence, including being threatened with a weapon and physical or sexual assault. The victims had four times the risk of post-traumatic stress syndrome or depression.

Teens with histories of trauma - such as loss of a parent or witnessing violence at home - were at greater risk for being victims of dating violence. Older teen girls were more likely to experience dating violence than younger teens.

This study appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Labels: violence, dating, rape

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments