Adolescents are influenced by their friends, fads, music,
television, and other forms of social media; they influence how they behave. Teenagers want to be liked and accepted by their
friends, so they tend to behave as their friends do, no matter the consequences. So,
it is important that adults recognize that dating violence is also influenced
by their friend’s opinion(s) (Stephenson,
Martsolf, & Draucker, 2013).
Teenagers impact their
friends who are in abusive relationships by being the person who they talk to
about the abuse, cheating or flirting with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and or
asking their friend to leave the abusive relationship. Also, teens will make their boyfriend or
girlfriend mad by talking about how much they like someone from the opposite
sex. Examples of how adolescents get
involved in their friends abusive relationships are: watching the abusive act,
keeping tabs on the person being abused, encouraging their friend to abuse their
boyfriend or girlfriend, and some friends will stop being friends when they
find out their friend is being abused (Stephenson et al., 2013)
So how do we use
friend to help stop dating violence?
- We can have discussions with teenagers on they think they are involved in the dating violence of their friends.
- We can use short videos that show scenarios about dating violence and ask teenagers to tell us how the friends of the abusive person was involved in the relationship.
References
Stephenson, P. S., Martsolf,
D., & Draucker, C. B. (2013). Peer involvement in adolescent dating
violence. The Journal of School Nursing, 29(3), 204-11.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059840512469232
Monique,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! What do you think the preferable setting for the short videos are? In a health class in school? At a community health clinic? I must admit I know very little about the subject matter and I am interested in learning more.
Thanks,
Laura
Hi Laura, I like both of your ideas. I think the perfect setting is at the doctor's office or health clinic. My doctor's office play short videos throughout the entire office. Of course this would cost time to set-up more than money, but I do think it would be worth the effort. Also, adolescents are always on social media, and you know a lot of the programs play commercials (even on your smart phone), so why not play them on the personal media as well as social media?
DeleteHey Monique! Excellent work! I like how the video shows the very first warning sign of possible domestic abuse. A lot of times parents can miss these warning signs, but siblings and friends can pick up on them rather quickly due to the varying relationships. Teens are so susceptible to what their friends think and say. As you mentioned, a great way for us to decrease and hopefully end teenage dating violence is by focusing on the social circles that are so influential. Even though teens are susceptible to violence, drugs, and other things, they are definitely strong enough to avoid and stop these harmful situations if given the proper environment and friends.
ReplyDelete-Mimi
Hi Monique. Excellent topic and I found the PSA very interesting. I think often times, kids who are these kinds of relationships are influenced heavily by their circle of friends don't you? Also, what are you thoughts about where this stems from? Could it be something they see at home with their own parents? For example, if a mother is in a relationship where this type of behavior exists, do you think they could feel like its "ok" to do this to their girlfriend/boyfriend? There is a lot of attention on bullying and a lot of campaigns have been created to stop bullying.... to me, this is a form of bullying and could use some media attention as well. Perhaps including this type of information on commercials about bullying so people don't think bullying is necessarily focused on bullying in schools due to the reasons that are currently being portrayed in these scenarios. When I think about bullying I think about kids being bullied at school because they are gay, or because they are "fat", or not cool.... but haven't seem any that focused on bullying in the form of teen dating violence. This is certainly a great topic and something that needs addressing....
ReplyDeleteGreat work!
Zeke
Hello, Zeke
DeleteDating violence arises out from many characteristics and issues, but parental influence has been at the forefront as to why teens accept dating violence. If there is domestic violence in the home, teens tend to view this as a normal behavior and accept that boys and girls who love each other may abuse each other.
Hey Monique! Great job. I really like this videos because they make us more aware of stuff going around us. I had no idea before these videos what was the first hand warning signs. The video indicated that parents need to be involved. It is so true that you are who you hang with and you are right how that is the first place to work on.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Luis
Hello Luis,
DeleteI like your last comment, you are who you hang out with!!! This is so true!