Teen Dating Abuse

The landscape of young people’s relationships is ever-evolving, with local customs, language, and technology all influencing their teen dating experiences. The terms they use may differ from previous generations, but one reality has not changed. Teenagers and pre-teens continue to engage in romantic or sexual relationships with one another.

Unfortunately, as young people develop the skills needed for being in relationships, some begin using behaviors that are unhealthy and abusive:

• More than half of America’s teenagers know friends who have experienced some dating abuse, while one in four 11-14-year-olds say physical dating violence is a serious concern for their age group⁸.
• In Maine, 8.3% of Maine high schoolers report that someone they were dating or going out with physically hurt them on purpose at least once in the preceding year. The percentage was higher for LGBTQ students (19.2%) and bisexual students (18.3%) than for heterosexual students (6.7%)⁹.
• Meanwhile, 81% of parents believe teen dating abuse is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it’s an issue¹⁰.

Too often, we expect young people to know how to be in relationships intuitively. We are not born with that knowledge. Instead, we learn it from our homes, peers, the lessons at school, and what we see in the media.

It is vital that we do not leave young people to sort through conflicting messages alone. Instead, we need to help them interpret what they see around them. We must support them in learning and choosing healthy and respectful relationship behaviors.

With young people, there is a huge opportunity to shift cultural elements that support and condone abuse and violence and create lasting social change. That is why Prevention Educators with MCEDV’s member resource centers are in schools and other youth-focused settings, delivering age-appropriate content to build young people’s skills and offer youth-focused advocacy when students need help.

At the Coalition, we build our members’ capacity to work with youth. We bring conversations about young people’s relationships to statewide tables, such as Maine Family Planning’s Annual Comprehensive Sexuality Education Conference. Contact your local Domestic Violence Resource Center about bringing a Prevention Educator into your school or organization.