“We are identifying teen dating abuse and violence more than ever,” said Dr. Elizabeth Miller, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, who began doing research on abuse in teenage dating relationships nearly a decade ago.
Dr. Miller cited a survey last year of children ages 11 to 14 by Liz Claiborne Inc., a clothing retailer that finances teenage dating research, in which a quarter of the 1,000 respondents said they had been called names, harassed or ridiculed by their romantic partner by phone call or text message, often between midnight and 5 a.m., when their parents are sleeping.
Such behavior often falls under the radar of parents, teachers and counselors because adolescents are too embarrassed to admit they are being mistreated.
Uh, kids 11-14 dating? Am I just an old L-7 in seeing a problem here?
The most telling observation: “Few adolescents know what a healthy relationship looks like.” If that is not an indictment of our current society and our adult behavior in the U.S.A., I don’t know what is.
I also found it interesting that the study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adocescent Medicine labelled abusers as “romantic partners.” Let’s face it: the driving force behind this kind of behavior is the feeling that one is entitled to use another human being as an object. In fact, American society promotes the objectification of human beings in every way possible. “Romantic partner?” Interesting choice of label.
My third comment is that our society is unwilling to honestly face the reality that many (if not most) of our young people are being sexualized long before they have the emotional maturity to handle an intimate relationship. We are extending the adolescent period of our young people all the while promoting early sexual activity.
Add to all of this, a crude, self-absorbed, highly individualistic culture that sends the message “Get all you can get; there is nothing else beyond satisfying your needs in this world, and you will not be judged for any choices you make.”
Why are we surprised at the result?
No Jeffersonian, you are not alone. I thought the same thing.