NORFOLK, Va. — We are just days away from Valentine’s Day, a day dedicated to love and romance. However, it could also be a great time to talk to your kids about healthy relationships.
We know high school is a time for firsts, your first time failing a test, your first homecoming game, or your first love. Experts say if your first relationship is an abusive one, your later relationships are more likely to be that way too.
That’s why they say parents need to speak up, now.
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“When we’re talking about interpersonal violence, sexual violence, online stalking, we have seen huge increases since the pandemic,” said Kristen Pine, Chief Operations Officer with the YWCA South Hampton Roads.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.5 million high schoolers in the United States are physically abused by someone they are dating in a single year.
February marks Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, a month dedicated to education about what healthy relationships could look like.
Experts, like Pine, say tackling this issue head on starts with parents.
“Conflict resolution, healthy sexuality and consent, what to do with rejection, what to do with those feelings of jealousy, those types of things,” she said.
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Niesha Himes, a domestic assault survivor and founder of the G.R.O.W Foundation, says a lot of teens don’t know what the early signs of dating violence look like.
"They’ll talk to me and say, 'Neisha I didn’t think that he liked me unless he hit me or I didn’t think she was really feeling me unless she broke my phone,'” she told News 3.
As a victim of domestic abuse, Himes didn’t know the warning signs: Isolation from friends and family, extreme jealousy, intimidation and constantly monitoring your social media or location.
"I just kept writing it off and writing it off and making excuses for it,” she said.
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But now she’s a survivor and a parent, talking with her children about recognizing the warning signs of abuse, so they don’t find themselves in a similar situation to their mom.
“It just takes having that conversation, sitting down with this young adult, this young individual and letting them know you’re here to listen and you’re here to be that safe space,” Himes said.
If you or a family member are experiencing abuse, help is available.
Here is the YWCA Crisis Hotline: 757-251-0144
Here is the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
