Teen Dating Violence - Re-Elevating Awareness & Prevention Strategies

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. In this INbetween episode, host Mighty Fine shares with listeners some statistics on teen dating violence and provides some strategies that can be incorporated into injury and violence prevention work to increase awareness and educate on prevention of this important issue facing teens and families. 

Transcript

Mighty Fine: 0:21

Welcome to the Injury and Violence Prevention INdepth podcast. My name is Mighty Fine, and I'm the host of this Safe States Alliance production. Hopefully you've been tuned in and know that this is a space where we engage in dialogue on a variety of issues to help inform you, our listeners on the latest trends and hot topics in injury and violence prevention. Today's episode is an INbetween, which is our shorter episodes that happen in-between the longer ones. This is when I get a chance to talk directly to you. And before I get started, I want to thank our wonderful sponsors Safe Kids Worldwide. Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries. Be sure to learn more about the wonderful work that they're doing by logging on to their website Safe Kids that org. Again for this INbetween, I'll be talking with you all directly, And today I'll be shedding light on teen dating violence, which sometimes is an overlooked issue. Although it affects millions of young people across the United States. It's important to note that it can take place in person online or through technology such as our smart devices that we use on a daily basis. CDC defines it as a type of intimate partner violence that can include physical violence, sexual violence, psychological aggression, and stalking. And this issue is really important because teens this issue is really important because teens often consider behaviors, like teasing and name calling as just a part of normal relationships. We know that that's not normal, and what may seem harmless can escalate into serious forms of violence. Additionally, many teens unfortunately, keep these experiences to themselves, afraid to share with friends and family what's happening with them. The other important thing to note here is that teen dating violence is more common than we might think. Again, CDC reported that in 2018, among US high school students, approximately one in 12 experienced physical dating violence. Likewise, about one in 12 reported experiencing sexual dating violence. While these just while these are just a couple of statistics, while these are just a couple of statistics, they do serve as a wake up call to the severity of this issue. We know that unhealthy abusive or violent relationships can have short and long term negative effects on developing youth who are victims of teen dating violence and are more likely to experience depression and anxiety symptoms. engage in unhealthy behaviors like tobacco use, drugs and alcohol. Exhibit antisocial behavior barriers, like lying, theft, bullying, or even hitting, and they're more likely to think about suicide. All in all, we must work collectively to address this issue. I've identified a list of five things to consider, as we re elevate teen dating violence as a major public health issue. These aren't in any particular order, and not to be an exhaustive list more, so something to get our juices flowing again, around this issue. First up, I have Breaking the Silence, we need to have open conversations about this issue, to create awareness and cultivate spaces where teens feel psychologically safe and safe otherwise, to speak up and to seek help. Number two is to teach safe and healthy relationship skills. And this can be done through social emotional learning programs dedicated for youth. Number three, support survivors and engage those with lived experience to help with prevention efforts, seeking their input with intention and also making sure they're comfortable being a part of it, but inviting them to be at the table. And when we do develop effective prevention measures with their input, we should think about ways to scale them up. Now, number four is training for professionals, provide training for educators, healthcare professionals, or other folks who have engagement or high engagement with youth and adolescents, help them to understand recognize and be able to respond to the signs of teen dating violence, and really empower them to think of themselves as trusted allies for teen to need. And number five, I have promote critical thinking this may seem like common sense to some folks. But I do think it's important to fully address this issue that we have to deconstruct suicidal messages through critical thinking, encouraging teens and others to question and analyze media portrayal of relationships, challenging, unrealistic ideals, challenging, realistic ideals, or toxic representations of relationships, and promote a more nuanced understanding of healthy partnerships. As I mentioned, these are just a few strategies to get us thinking about how to re engage in this work and support others who are working diligently to address this issue on an ongoing and steady basis. So a big shout out to them in a huge thank you for all of the phenomenal work you're doing in this area. So with that, I'll close and I'll thank you all for listening to another episode of IVP in depth. So with that, I'll close and thank you all for listening to another episode of IVP in depth. Be sure to subscribe and listen to us on Apple podcast, Spotify, or Google podcasts. You can also follow Safe States. You can also follow safe states on Twitter or ex at Safe States the same for LinkedIn and check out our website at safe states.org. And there you can learn more about the wonderful work that we're doing an injury and violence prevention again, and check out our website at safe states.org. There you can find injury and violence prevention tools and resources for your use. We'd like to thank our sponsor again Safe Kids Worldwide for supporting Safe States and helping us to bring programs such as this. This is your host mighty fine signing off and until next time, stay safe and injury free.