Violence has become an increasing
eminent public health issue among our teens in the United States and dating
violence is one area in which teens experience violence. In 2011, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported
that approximately 9.4% of high school students reported that they were hit,
slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2014).. Alarmingly, about 1 in 5 women and approximately
1 in 7 who ever experienced partner violence reported that their first encounter
with partner violence occurred when they were between the ages of 11 and 17
years (CDC, 2014).
Teen dating violence encompasses
physical, mental, emotional, sexual, and digital abuse. There are multiple factors that predispose adolescents
to dating violence and among them are gender, age, race, academic performance,
parental partner violence, psychological stability, and alcohol and illegal
drug use. Teen dating violence has
consequences that impact an individuals present and future. It has been postulated that dating violence may
lead to adult intimate partner violence (IPV), chronic illness and diseases,
and other long-term issues. Consequently,
teens are the ideal population to educate on intimate partner violence (IPV)
since the choices they make will impact their future (CDC, 2014).
Adolescence is a time of
self-exploration and development, and most teens do not have the skills
necessary to effectively resolve dating violence. Therefore, I hope that individuals have
learned from this blog that teen dating violence is a problem that needs to be
addressed with education and health promotion and prevention programs. I feel that not only do teens need education,
but families, communities, and the population at large are need of increased
knowledge on dating violence. Also, I
hope that the readers of this blog have learned what teen dating violence is, how
it impacts our youth, and what we need to do to stop dating violence.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Injury prevention and control. Teen dating violence. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html
Monique the statistics you mentioned are alarming. I had no idea that people as young as 11 have been found to experience dating violence. I think dating violence is often thought of as adult issue, but as you have shown that is not the case. As you mentioned, most teens at this age are not mature enough to deal with such complex issues. This added to many pressures teens deal with while growing into adulthood make it imperative that the issue of teen violence not be overlooked. Thank you for bringing such an important and overlooked topic to light.
ReplyDelete-- Irma C
Hi, Monique, I thought you did a great job on your presentation with such a difficult topic. I agree with you that education on teen dating violence can help prevent adult IPV. Young girls are learning about how to play the role of a woman when they are dating, and teaching them that that their partners should value them and their opinions is an important lesson. Thanks for bringing us information on such an important issue! --Liz
ReplyDeleteThank you Elizabeth and Irma for your posts. I agree that we need to start educating young girls about dating violence because if we do not, then we will never end the cycle.
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