LETTER: Teen dating violences is worse issue than most parents realize

To Ozaukee Press:

We teach our children from a young age to be kind to one another. Hitting isn’t nice, calling someone names can really hurt. These lessons shouldn’t end when kids leave the playground and become tweens and teens. Promoting nonviolent relationships can be a vital step to preventing domestic violence and sexual violence into adulthood. 

Advocates of Ozaukee has been working in schools, churches and the community for 39 years, and during the past 15 years we have been zeroing in on teen dating violence through school presentations.          

We recently have had several community conversations about not just teaching girls how not to be victims, but also about teaching boys appropriate behaviors. We certainly acknowledge that the victimhood can affect either gender, but research shows it is far more often girls and women who are the victims of partner violence. 

One out of every three teens and young adults experiences some form of dating abuse. However, 80% of parents believe teen dating violence is not an issue or admit that they don’t know if it’s an issue.  

Dating violence is not just a phase or a “thing kid’s go through.”  It is a denial of a person’s rights to a healthy, happy, safe relationship and can change the course of their lives if not discovered and dealt with properly from the very beginning.  

We are working in our schools and community to spread the word and to train others to see the signs of dating violence and how to best proceed. We would be happy to talk about this with individuals or groups of adults and kids. Contact us at 262-284-3577 or email svdir@advocates-oz.org for more information.  

Barb Fischer

Executive Director

Advocates of Ozaukee