July 8, 2008
"Horrors" Found In Tween, Teen Dating
Survey Uncovers Significant Levels Of Physical, Verbal Abuse; Sex At Young Ages; Many Parents In The Dark
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(istockphoto.com)
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Play CBS Video Video More Teen Daters In Danger A new study finds that kids are dating at a younger age and a disturbing number of those relationships are abusive. Tracy Smith reports.
Among the findings:
In addition, significant numbers of teens (15-18) are experiencing emotional and mental abuse as well as violence when dating; it's even more prevalent among teens who've had sex by 14.
And many teens and tweens say they've been victims of technological abuse, in which cell phones, paging, IMs, social networking sites, etc. were used to carry out the abuse.
The survey, which was commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. and loveisrespect.org, was conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited. Loveisrespect.org operates the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline.
"We were surprised at how many tweens or kids ages 11 and 12 are dealing with these issues," Liz Claiborne Vice President Jane Randel told Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith.
What's behind it all? Researchers believe early sexual activity tends to fuel dating violence among teens and tweens, Smith reports.
And Randel points out that, "Parents, while they think they know what their teens or, more importantly, tweens relationships are, they're really not fully aware of what's going on. And that's scary."
Experts say programs are needed to help parents and their kids recognize unhealthy relationships, and to stop them before they start.
Concerned by the trend toward abusive tween and teen dating, the National Association of Attorneys General passed a resolution urging states to establish educational programs on teen dating violence and abuse.
The move was spearheaded by Patrick Lynch, Rhode Island's attorney general, who told co-anchor Russ Mitchell on The Early Show Tuesday that the numbers in the survey are "absolutely alarming."
He said young people need to be made aware of "these horrors" so the "violence not only doesn't occur at that level, but isn't perpetuated in generations to come."
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See all 67 CommentsI think any act of violence (or any crime really) committed by anyone under the age of 18 should be punished as an adult - and the punishment should land directly on the parents who raised the little thug in the first place.
Seems to me these are cases are bad parenting. Punish the parents and I think you''ll see a drop in these underage thugs.
Please be aware that regardless of how good of a parent that YOU are, that your children are surrounded by kids that were raised by OTHER parents. Being aware of the prevalence of Teen Dating Violence is one way to mitigate some of the risk that your children face; another is to become aware of some of the Warning Signs of an abusive relationship; and then to share these warning signs with the teenagers in your life.
Many abusers prevent their boyfriend/girlfriend from spending time with their friends or family. A teen may see this as a loving gesture but is in reality very controlling behavior. As a teenager in their first relationship, how are they to know that this isn''t a healthy relationship?
It is up to parents to educate their children but it will take teachers, administrators and legislators to truly affect change and protect our youth.
Drew Crecente
Director, Jennifer Ann''s Group
www.JenniferAnn.org
I mean what do expect??? angels?
I guess we all could move to Eldorado Texas and marry them off to a bunch of old guys who know how to treat them better...You know, knock em up and stick em in the kitchen
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Posted by erasmus81 at 04:47 PM : Jul 08, 2008
+ report abuse
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we can start by controlling those liberals who persist that these kids has all the rights and responsibilities of an adult AND NOT TO MENTION all those preditory liberal shows
" I told you so..."
After graduation they will have experienced every known emotion known to women and will have had to deal with it.
We would not want to teach right from wrong.
"it may hurt their feeings".
"They are never left alone." Posted by saycricket at 03:09 PM : Jul 08, 2008
Are you sure about that? Do you talk to the parents before they go, to find out if they are going to be home? I have had parents tell me they were going to be home and found out later, they were not. There are some losers for parents out there.
I would always drive my kids to their friends house and pick them up. That way I knew where they lived. And when I drove them places, I would let them play THEIR music. It was amazing how they would relax and speak more freely. You could learn all sorts of things. I know it was sneaky, but hey, all is fair when trying to raise your kids, right?
Things today are much worse, and I believe that you need to do what you need to do, to keep them safe.
Oh yeah, most of them say something like *report that their friends* or *say their friends have*
Nothing like reporting third party hearsay as *evidence*
What I don''t agree with is when a parent lets a boyfriend spend the night with her daughter. Or a 14 year old girl is going out with a boy alone. Groups of kids going to the movies or skating rink when a parent is dropping them off and picking them up is fine.
Your children are 15 and 11 and you are only stressing the need to abstinent for a few more years?? What is wrong with you parents we have so many std''s, aids and all kids of other things that can happen to our children not to mention the pyschological aspect of entering into a sexual relationship. What ever happened to abstinence until you are married?? This is realistic if we teach it, so many parents have just said it''s easier to give them protection?
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