In this particular survey published in 1996, the students came
from mostly middle-class backgrounds.
The researchers also reviewed other studies and found a remarkable consistency in how
often teen dating violence occurs and who is doing it, regardless of family background.
They found that an "equal number of boys and girls experienced as well as initiated
abuse."
This finding may be particularly surprising to parents and to educators as well.
Many schools conduct domestic violence awareness programs these days, but in almost all of
these programs instructors contend that 95% of the time it is only boys who are violent in
dating relationships.
This is far from the truth.
By failing to discourage violence started by girls against their boyfriends, such programs
only encourage reciprocal violence by their male dates.
The Social Work researchers, Nona O'Keeffe, Karen Brockopp, and Esther Chew, think they
know why dating teenage girls are as violent as boys: "Unlike older women in violent
relationships, teenage girls have less at stake materially and emotionally and may
therefore be more willing to take greater risks with their relationships. These findings
may also indicate that future generations of women are more likely to participate equally
in all aspects of their relationships, including violence."
Parents then, need to be more aware of the high incidence of school bullying at the lower
grade levels, and they also need to be more aware of the high levels of teen dating
violence.
It also means that it isn't just "Sam" who needs to be told that it isn't right
to hit girls, or other boys, but "Samantha" needs to hear this as well.
Philip W. Cook is the author of Abused
Men-The Hidden Side of Domestic
Violence (Praeger/Greenwood Publishing).
Additional information about
abuse or being abused.
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