Teen Dating Violence - talk about it with your teen.

[FirstLight]

2. All of these are useful!

but the fact that you are TALKING to your kids about all of it is priceless!

My daughter is just entering middle school and I have been very open with talking to her about liking boys and how my first dating attempts went, and will continue to share as things get more progressed and age appropriate.
What's scary to me is the amount of kids, namely GIRLS, whose parents are just clueless and refuse to talk about this stuff. My daughter's best friend has parents who say "no dating/makeup/etc till you are 16." and that's it. No conversations.
It is a huge disservice to just shut the door like that to all options and never talk about anything before then. That girl could end up in a bad situation before 16 and not know how to protect herself or even recognize what's happening till it is too late...

My mom was not very helpful in that respect either. I never understood what rape was, much less date rape. My mom used euphemisms that didn't make things really clear. It wasn't till I was older I realized I had been date-raped at 15...and nobody ever knew, i just lived with the feeling all my teen life that *I* was the slut and it was MY fault.... I will make sure my girl knows what to expect before the time/age comes so she is prepared to fight for her innocence...

Side note: In fifth grade last year she was at a slumber party. Because she was the most 'developed' the girls decided SHE was the one to get locked in the closet with the older brother... he was 12. He was nice about it and they both were beating on the door to get out. MY girl ended up kicking the door open and telling all of them "MY innocence is NOT for YOUR entertainment!" ...needless to say, she never hung out with those girls again. By her own choice.