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Teens Who Suffer Dating Abuse

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By Shari Keller Your teenage grandchild is explosive over trivial issues or the social butterfly has less friends. Many grandparents today find themselves with a single parent child moving back home, placing the burden of being both parent and grandparent on the Baby-Boomer. The grandparent notices changes in the teen due to daily contact. These changes should never be dismissed or ignored. The statistics on dating violence are staggering:
• Roughly 1.5 million high school boys and girls in the U.S. admit to being intentionally hit or physically harmed in the last year by someone they are romantically involved with. 33% of adolescents in America are victims to sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional dating abuse. (The NO MORE …show more content…

(Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc. (Liz Claiborne, Inc.), Conducted by Teen Research Unlimited “Troubled Economy Linked to High Levels of Teen Dating Violence & Abuse Survey https://www.breakthecycle.org/surveys. Dating violence takes place in person or electronically. Social media has increased the opportunity for the abuser to inflict verbal and emotional abuse on the teen where they should be safest, their own home. Recognizing changes, isolation from friends and family, emotional changes, spiraling from upbeat to sadness, constant communication by phone or text regarding the teen’s activities or whereabouts, sudden changes in appearance or quickly becoming defensive over the boy/girlfriend can be warning signs. Symptoms of depression, anxiety may manifest. The teen may suddenly start smoking, drinking, and experimenting with drugs. Antisocial behavior may be observed and thoughts of suicide can manifest through art, selective music playlist or in journaling. Not confiding in the parent may include but not limited to shame, embarrassment, fear of having to break up or fear of retaliation from the soul mate for telling someone. Teens experiencing infatuation find it hard to know whether it is jealousy or love that drives the other person. Sadly, many do not

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