Our Voices: Abusive Relationships

By Christy Tonight’s roundtable is about relationships. Many youths obliviously enter abusive relationships and once they are in them, its hard to leave them. Since it's almost Valentine's Day , it’s the perfect time to spread awareness. Abusive relationships can take several forms; economic, physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, academic, and psychological. www.loveisrespect.org says, one in ten high school students has been physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend. I’d say that spreading awareness would encourage more young people to speak up about and against it. Surely, it would have youths think about whether their actions towards their partners count as abuse and make them more conscious about how they treat their partners. Questions:

1. What do you think are hints if a relationship being abusive?
2. Did you know someone affected by it? (Yes: How did or are they dealing with it?) (No: How might you think it would affect them?)

1. Why do you think some victims stay in the relationship?
2. If you or a friend were in an abusive relationship what would you do?
3. What are long term effects of being in an abusive relationship for too long?

For those of you who think you’re in an abusive relationship please call: 1 (800) 799- 7233