Read: "Dating violence can affect teenagers too" on Yahoo! Health
This is another area where more information would really help. It says in the article that "teenagers who have a friend in a violent dating relationship should be taught to report the situation to an adult". But the problem is that all three people in the equation - victim, friend and adult - are usually really unaware of the problem, both of its existence and its importance. Most people are unaware IMHO that the problem is as common as it is (I mean really, 3% of 12-17yo girls? That's quite a lot in our so-called enlightened society.), and too many of those that know that it's happening are not really sure (again IMHO) that it shouldn't be happening, such as the assaulter (duh), the assaulter's immediate environment (it's not a genetic trait, you know), and too often the victim herself (or sometimes himself).
So what do we do about it? Information. Talk about it. Get the statistics out. Write about it. Be sure everyone knows it won't be tolerated (again, duh), especially your kids. Believe it or not, there are plenty of people out there that truly believe that violence is the way to solve many of our problems, sad but true. Hopefully, we can "inform" some sense into people. Otherwise, we may have to open a can of whoop-ass, on 'em! Right? No! Wrong, see violence... Geez people...
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