Family Resource Center, Inc.

Dating Violence

February 4-8 is National Teen Dating Awareness & Prevention Week. Check out the links, below for more information. http://www.loveisrespect.org/video/ The Safe Space Break the Cycle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Relationships 101 Lots of people do not recognize abuse when it happens or don’t know how to tell whether or not a relationship is healthy. Educate yourself about domestic violence. You will learn ways to recognize abuse early on in a relationship and you can take our quiz to find out if your relationship is healthy. Technology & Abuse Technology can come in handy when you want to stay in touch. But it can also be used by others to monitor your every move and control you. Learn about the abusive use of technology and how you can protect yourself. Need Help? If you are in an abusive relationship, you can’t control your partner’s abusive behavior. But, you can take steps to protect yourself from harm. Whether you’ve decided to stay in the relationship, end the relationship, or you just don’t know what to do, here you can find information and tools that can help you stay safe. Know Your Rights Ending an abusive relationship can be the most dangerous time for a victim. Violence often begins or gets worse when a victim breaks up with their abusive partner. A restraining order can be a powerful tool to ending an abusive relationship safely. Help Someone Else Seeing someone you care about experience abuse in their relationship can be very difficult and frustrating. Whether you know someone who is being abused or are worried someone you know is abusive, find out what steps you can take to support and help them.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://crapo.senate.gov/issues/teen_dating_violence.cfm The tragic crime of domestic violence in the United States is often unacknowledged by the public face that our society wears. Behind smiling couples and seemingly carefree children lurks something that many thought was better left unspoken.  While the discussion of domestic violence happens much more often today, bringing light to this terrible crime that makes a home a prison, abuse still occurs, and, often, the children adopt these destructive behavioral patterns both as victims and aggressors. When teens begin dating, they apply the relationship norms they learned watching those in parental roles. The results in many junior high, high schools, and colleges across our nation are chilling: One in three female teens in a dating relationship report having feared for their safety. 30% of teens in a dating relationship have been text-messaged 10, 20, or 30 times an hour by a partner finding out where they are, what they are doing or who they are with. One in five teens in a serious relationship report having been hit slapped or pushed by a partner. One in four girls in a relationship report having been pressured to go further sexually than they really wanted.  The crime of teen dating violence, including physical, emotional and sexual assault, and harassment via texting, email or Instant Messaging is a cruel reality for many American teenagers.  Like drug abuse, it’s a reality of which many parents are unaware.  The Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Initiative was spearheaded by teenagers across the nation who chose to take a stand and put a stop to teen dating violence.  Initiated in 2004 by the American Bar Association and now supported by dozens of national, state and local organizations, the call to end teen dating violence was formally recognized in 2006 and 2007 when both Houses of Congress declared the first week in February "National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week."  Since 2006, many governors, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Defense and Justice have promoted goals and activities that support the Initiative.  The House and Senate “Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week” resolutions call on government representatives and agencies, private organizations and public officials to promote activities in their respective communities that raise awareness of the high incidence of teen dating violence that occurs among our teens every day, as well as prevention strategies.   In 2006, Idaho's Eagle High School produced several video public service announcements to help raise awareness of this issue. You can download them from the Teen Dating Violence media page.