The Chicago tribune announced a new help hotline for teens of dating abuse in this article. “It will be run by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which mostly serves adults with its current operations. Calls to the new line will be answered by teens and other young adults in the belief that young abuse victims would be more comfortable confiding in someone their own age.”
The hotline will not be functional until early next year, but I’ll let you know when I get more information. So, what do you think is the reason this problem is rising? Is it because boys are more aggressive or could it be that girls are getting themselves out of these situations once they have enough – instead of being silent forever? Or is it something else?
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I think this is a consequence of the environment these kids have grown up in. They’ve been encouraged to lead solitary lives with such things as gameboys, the internet, the message boards, not to mention the fact that most are from dysfunctional families and many have probably been witness to abuse between their parents. To quote a very old saying ‘they don’t know no better’.
I honestly don’t think these kids know how to communicate with each other or how to express their feelings. All these boys know is that when they talk to a girl or touch a girl it excites them. But if its not reciprocated because the girl usually requires more interaction or she flat out doesn’t feel the same way then they don’t know what to do or say and so they lash out. Its like there are some mighty big holes in the whole mating process and they haven’t been taught how to fill them. And hey, lets not forget that it happens in all areas of our society. Road rage, school shootings, marital disputes. Lets face it, you daren’t even complain when someone jumps the line in front of you these days in case they stab you or shoot you in retaliation. So we adults are not exactly great role models.
Kids have got to learn to communicate respectfully with each other and we could all help by setting an example by ensuring they learn their pleases and thankyous and to respect their friends, family and teachers.