For many parents right now, teen dating violence is a hot issue. A lot of this comes into view from Hollywood and the music industry, as abusive relationships are uncovered. Parents are now seeing that teen dating violence is a topic that is well worthy of attention for both teen girls and boys.

At a recent relationship skills class for teens, one of the participants was asked by a teacher what they would do if they got angry at their girlfriend. The young man spoke up and said, “I just choke her.” Whether the young man was joking around or not, these are the issues that a lot of teen relationships are having to deal with.

However, this has been a problem in teenage life for a long time now, and it’s just starting to come into view for some parents. Last year, a study that was commissioned by Liz Claiborne and conducted by the Teenage Research Unlimited showed that one in every three teenagers report that they know of a friend that hits, slaps, or chokes their partner. Almost 62% of kids ages 11 to 14 report that they have been in a relationship that they have been verbally abused in. The study also showed that one in every five girls has been in a relationship where their boyfriend threatened to hurt them if they broke up with them. Although many kids think this is normal, parents need to work with their kids to let them know that this is not.

In other studies that have been done by the National Center for Victims and Crime, it has been revealed that teen dating violence runs across all genders, races and socioeconomic lines. Thus, there is no area that is safe from this topic, and it’s something that these organizations think needs to be a topic that is talked about among families.