Teens and Dating Violence

"The act of love is to say: I want you to be who you are."
The act of abuse is to say: "I want you to be who I want you to be."
It is that simple. — James D. Gill

What is teen dating violence?

Teen dating violence is the act or threat of violence by one member of an unmarried couple on the other member within a dating relationship. This includes any form of sexual, physical, and/or verbal or emotional abuse.

Take the test:warning signs of abuse

The excitement of being in a relationship can stop you from seeing the warning signs of abuse. Remember &emdash; you don't have to have broken bones or a black eye to be abused. If you check more than two below you may want to get help now before it's too late.

Are you going out with someone who...

• Is jealous and possesive toward you, checks up on you, and belittles you in front of family and friends?
• Won't accept that you are breaking up with him/her?
• Tries to control you, doesn't like you being with friends, makes all the decisions, and doesn't take your opinion seriously?
• Scares you by his/her reactions to things you say or do? Threatens you by using weapons?
• Is violent, has a history of fighting or losing his/her temper, and brags about mistreating others? Destroys or damages your personal property?
• Forces you to have sex, or is aggressive during sex? Pressures you to have unsafe sex? Thinks women or girls are sex objects? Attempts to manipulate you or becomes too serious about the relationship too quickly?
• Uses drugs or alcohol and tries to get you to take them too?
• Has a history of bad relationships, or blames you when he or she mistreats you?

Are you going out with someone who...

• Hits, chokes, punches, kicks, slaps, pulls your hair or physically hurts you?
• Your family and friends have told you they were concerned about your safety?

Did you know...

• More than 70% of pregnant teens or female teen parents are beaten by their boyfriends.
• Nearly one in five teenage girls who have been in a relationship report a boyfriend had threatened violence toward her or threatened to injure himself over a breakup.
• Nationally, 9.2 percent of high school students report having been hit, slapped or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend.
• Most teenage victims of dating violence report that their offender was close in age to their own.
• 16 percemt of Ohio high school females report having been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to.

Remember...

Violence is not a normal part of any relationship.

Abuse is not your fault.

Reach out for help. It is available.