Teen relationship violence increases in the United States

Relationship abuse is currently on the rise in teenage culture across the nation. Many people are taking action and supporting the cause.

Do you remember when you were little and all you wanted to do was grow up? Growing up used to mean going from grade school to middle school, then middle school to high school. But then you grow up and realize all the pressure and responsibilities you have. Homework that takes hours to complete, parties, pressure from friends and parents, pressure to get into a good college, and then there is dating. Dating should be fun and somewhat of an escape from all the stress, until it takes a sudden turn for the worst.

Studies say that one in five high school girls have been sexually, verbally and physically abused. Most girls in this situation don’t talk about what they are going through. They make up excuses or even start finding things wrong with themselves to justify the abuse. Kristina Crawford, the school therapist at Chantilly, sees a little bit of this.

“Students usually come to see me about other issues that they are dealing with and the abuse just sort of surfaces. The girls talk as if they blame themselves for it.”

Most abuse in teens is verbal. Crawford has had few cases of physical abuse.

“I rarely ever have a student with a physically abusive relationship. It’s usually a verbal one. One partner uses threats of breaking up to control the other.” The stereotypical abuse is always male to female, but abuse can go both ways. Girls can be just as abusive as boys can be. 24.1 % of males in a relationship have been verbally abused.

“Abuse comes from both sides of the relationship. Boys mainly take a physical approach, while the girls throw out threats of causing ‘self-harm’ if the relationship ends”, Crawford said.

Some teens have been so abused by their partners that they decide to end their lives. Teenagers between the ages of 14 and 19 are the most likely to attempt or commit suicide based on an abusive relationship.

Abuse can be easily linked with depression. The main signs would be sleeping all the time, not eating or over eating, becoming isolated and trying to harm their body. If the depression only gets worse and worse without being noticed, it tends to end in death or an attempt at it. October is dedicated to Stop America’s Violence Everywhere (SAVE) organization.

In support of the awareness, people wear purple on the second Wednesday of October. There are many programs within this organization that can help abused people. SAVE has organizations in 40 states and over 400 U.S. countries. Many abused teens don’t always know where to look for help. They cover up the truth of the relationship with the phrase ‘I love him’.

abuse, relationships Issue 5, Main, News, Print