Preventing Dating Violence

from US Gov.Gab

May 13, 2010 - I'm sure by now you've probably heard about the death of Yeardley Love, a player on the women's lacrosse team at the UVA. It happened a few weeks ago now and since it happened, I've read tons of articles and blog posts about why it happened, how it happened, the "evils" of lacrosse culture, and why some men think it's OK to treat women as objects.

I read some truly wonderfully, well-written pieces, but in all the coverage, I felt that one big thing that was missing was the piece on prevention.

How do we prevent tragedies like this from happening?

We've probably all sat through a health class on the subject of domestic abuse and dating violence, but is one, brief class enough to make an impact?

According to a CDC survey, at the high school level, one in 10 students reported being hit by a boyfriend or girlfriend on purpose.

Take that to the next level and throw in alcohol, drugs, status or plenty of other factors and it's easy to see how dating violence can escalate.

So then what do we need to be doing differently?

Is it better in-school education on the topic at a younger age?

Is it parents teaching children to respect one another no matter what gender they are, what sports they play, what groups they belong to?

Is it instilling confidence in women and giving them the resources they need to walk away?

I don't know what the answer is, but I think it's something that we as a society need to think more about.