Posted on 06/09/2005 6:23:00 PM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Erika Eckstrom began dating her boyfriend at the start of her College freshman year at 18 things were great, but her situation deteriorated and she soon was friendless, isolated and the victim of domestic violence.
"Everything was great and when it started really getting bad I don't know if it was denial, but I knew something was wrong, because I was without a support system," said Eckstrom, now 20 and still in college in Washington but dating someone else.
Her story is apparently common among teenagers.
According to a study released on Thursday, more than half of America's teens know friends who have experienced physical, sexual or verbal abuse in their dating relationships.
Among those surveyed, 13 percent of teenage girls, admit to being physically injured or hit and one in four report being pressured to perform oral sex or engage in intercourse, according to the survey by the private research group Teenage Research Unlimited.
"There is a lot to be said about the cycle of violence and there's a lot of research that shows that violence is a learned behavior," said Jane Randel a vice president at Liz Claiborne Inc., the company that underwrote the study.
According to Randel, while research has shown that patterns of domestic violence among teens parallel those among adults, little is being done to educate America's youth.
"Parents are very willing to talk to their kids about drugs and sex and things, but this is an issue that kind of goes right over," she said.
Teens often don't view abusive dating relationships as a domestic violence issue. "This is a teenage issue. Things that happen to adults when they are married with the kids, start when you are in high school," said Eckstrom.
According to the study, teenage dating abuse extends across the nation's suburbs, cities, regions and ethnic groups.
The study, which used data collected from online surveys among 300,000 registered participants aged 13 to 18, showed only two-thirds of teens, boys and girls, say they would know what to do if a friend asked for help about an abusive relationship.
To help shed some light on the issue, Liz Claiborne, which has been involved in domestic abuse programs since 1991, is sponsoring a new curriculum in schools. The pilot program is a three day course developed by the non-profit Education Development Center (EDC). It will first be offered in nine schools representing a cross-section of the nation's economy.
"The goal of getting the research and the curriculum for us is to try and reach out to these kids when they are first forming their relationships, before they get to be adults so that they understand the issue," said Randel.
The "Love is Not Abuse Curriculum," is aimed at 14-year-old 9th graders to help prevent growing incidence of physical and verbal abuse and sexual pressure within their age group.
The program, to be offered in either health or English classes, is also designed to help establish a support system for those teens in abusive relationships.
"13 percent of teenage girls, admit to being physically injured or hit and one in four report being pressured to perform oral sex or engage in intercourse"
Feminism is good for women... right...???
Well according to what the left was saying seven years ago oral sex isn't actually sex.
Grew up withour a 'support system'?
How about growing up without common sense?
IIRC didn't Dick Morrison in one of his book say that when WJC attacked him Hillary consoled him by saying "Bill always treats the people he loves this way!"
Well then its like long distance its the next best thing to being there
Oh, I know: they'll just call this the "sexual liberation" of women, and leave it at that. Feminists just don't get it: they're directly responsible for these sort of problems, and they're turning women into bigger and bigger slaves each day.
Ironic, considering they started out trying to FIGHT that very concept. They have dug their own graves.
Sorry, girls, but that's not abuse, it's just creep-like behavior. Every teenage girl needs to keep in mind that she is better off without a boy who would dump her for not putting out.
Doesn't say sexual activity was present. Just says that the teenage boys wanted something that the girl didn't want to give. And the boy "pressured" the girl by pursuing the topic.
This doesn't strike me as a new development.
NOTE: if sexual activity had been present, against the girl's will, this report would have said that one in four were raped. The report doesn't say that. So, what we have is one in four reporting that the boy said :Awwwwww, c'mon! Please????"
Dont they have parents? If my daughter had come home beat up I would be at that boys house and when I got thru whipping his daddys ass I would start on the kid.
That is EXACTLY right.
Further, what we fail to consider is that if the liberal definition of 'pressuring' is applied, and that is considered abuse, fully 99% of American teenage males would be labelled abusers.
"He put his hand on my knee without stopping to ask my permission while we were kissing on my bed! ABUSE!"
Well said bump (similar thoughts in my post above).
Yeah, where ARE the parents? Are there parents at all?
Her comment startled and stunned me and I wanted to believe she was making it up to sound outrageous, but then I read about the children's book "Rainbow Party" by Paul Ruditis and realized that this girl was merely a glimpse of what has truly become of moral values in the post-clinton era.
Now there's some hardbiting news one could sink one's teeth in....as far as I know, being 54 years old....well, there's NOTHINGNEW here!
FMCDH(BITS)
NOTE: if sexual activity had been present, against the girl's will, this report would have said that one in four were raped. The report doesn't say that. So, what we have is one in four reporting that the boy said :Awwwwww, c'mon! Please????"
+++
I'll just stick the head in...
Get a clue, folks.
A quick google search turned up the following: Liz Claiborne and Susan Sarandon Discourage Keeping Quiet ... way our culture views abuse," says Jane Randel, director of Women's Work at Liz Claiborne Inc. ...
'Nuf said.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.