Greggornation  

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to what we can do about dating violence.

The first step, though, is to realize that it does happen, and it can happen to your child.

It is important to understand that the more you try to pry your child away from the situation, the more she or he will run to it.

Nothing will happen until your child realizes on their own that the abuse she or he is facing is not love. That can come from flyers, magazines, websites etc. Why not find a couple of flyers with a hotline on them and leave them lying around? What about leaving the name of a website around? Here are a few that I find are extremely focused on helping your child:

From Liz Clairborne(click on the image): LoveIsRespect.org is probably my favorite site to give to people about teen dating violence. A young person can come across this site and learn what abuse is, what you can do if you are being abused, even what can you do if you are an abuser. Please use this site. It is simply there to help your child.

Another one from Liz Clairborne, but for parents –

This one is good to help kids respond to bullying, violence, text harassment etc:

Please use these if you need to. Pass them on to your kids. Pass them on to your neighbors and friends. Remember that violence and bullying happen.

Peace,

Greg