Maybe it’s screaming. Maybe it’s engulfing rage. It may even be fists. Whatever form, it’s abuse.
Dating abuse is happening to students every day, and many times it goes unnoticed. According to dosomething.org, one in three teens is a abusive relationship. To put it into perspective, a school of approximately 1,900 students would have about 627 students suffering this abuse every day. Ninety five percent of the time this abuse is caused by men.
Educating students on how to get out of an abusive relationship, and how to get help if they are in one, is essential to stop this potential life threatening issue.
According to dosomething.org, victims are most likely not going to end the relationship because they don’t know what classifies as abuse, and there might be a lot of good times mixed in with the abuse, so they don’t want to give that up. Also abusers might threaten victims to make sure they stay in the relationship.
When people are abused, they tend to start isolating themselves from friends and family, and further get trapped into the vicious cycle. Also, attackers will harm victims in places that clothes cover, so the aftermath is hidden for only them to know.
To stop this common, but horrible problem, recognizing the warning signs in a relationship is key. Warning signs include when a partner starts to be extremely controlling, and wants to keep track of the victim at every second. Extreme jealousy can also lead to violence if one partner is constantly accusing, or asking an excessive amount of questions about where the victim’s been, who she’s talked to, or what she’s said. Also, a red flag should go up if a partner is always invading the victim’s privacy, such as going through backpacks, text messages, e-mails, and anything else that may have information. And of course, if a partner starts to punch, shove, choke, or any other physical violence, the relationship needs to end immediately.
Hopefully students and administrators will take dating abuse seriously, and take steps to end it.