If you read our last blog, you know that February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. On the week of February 8th, there were different things you could have done to show your support of the awareness month and we hope that everyone participated in these challenges throughout the week! Showing your support is a great way to get the conversation started about teen dating violence, but what do you say once the conversation is flowing? One of the most important things to talk about is the warning signs of dating violence. A lot of people don’t even realize all of the aspects of dating violence or the ways that violence can occur.
It is important to have conversations with your teens periodically, even if they are in healthy relationships, to talk about unhealthy relationships. There are four types of dating violence: Physical, Sexual, Psychological, and Stalking. Some of the warning signs of each type your teen should look out for are:
- Name calling or trying to humiliate your child in front of others
- Threatens to hurt your teen, people they care about, pets, or themselves (suicide if your child leaves them)
- Deciding things for them (what to eat, how to dress, who to hang out with)
- Wanting to look through their phones or get their passwords for social media
- Wants to be in constant contact with your child
- Says things like “If I can’t have you, no one can” or “No one will ever love you like I do”
- Forcing sex, saying they don’t love them if they don’t have sex with them, or “owe” them sex
- Must know where your teen is at all times or keep track of everything they are doing
- Constantly accusing your child of cheating
- Prevents or discourages seeing friends or family
- Tries to stop them from going to school or work
- Gets angry in a way that is frightening, especially in situations that they shouldn’t get angry
- Wants all of your child’s time and energy or isolates them from friends and family
- Blames your teen for all of the arguments and problems in the relationship
- Acts jealous for no certain reason
- Doesn’t support your child in what they want to do or their dreams
- Your teen can’t speak their opinions without fear of an argument
- Your child feels like they need to change for their partner
- They feel like they constantly have to justify their actions
- Their partner tries to control or manipulate them
These are all things that your child needs to be aware of and look out for in any of their relationships. Starting the conversation about these types of things are never easy, but they are always necessary. Even if you feel the relationship is healthy, they could later get into a relationship like this, or know someone who is in a relationship like this. So, please, start the conversation today! Stay tuned next month when we talk about ways to get out of violent relationship and how to support people who are getting out of violent relationships.
If you or anyone you know if a victim of domestic violence please call us at 1-888-554-2501, our office at 501-354-1884, or our Perryville office at 501-889-2030.
Leave a Reply