Starting Younger to Prevent Dating Abuse

July 18, 2012

A middle school in Seattle, Washington

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Programs that teach young people how to avoid abusive relationships are generally for high school or college age. But new programs are being created for younger students because they too experience abusive dating relationships.

Earlier this year the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a study done in the United States. Fifteen percent of seventh graders in the study said they had been the victim of physical violence in a relationship with the opposite sex. Seventh graders are about twelve years old.

Kelly Miller, a lawyer in the state of Idaho, directs a program called Start Strong Idaho. It started three and a half years ago. The goal is to help eleven- to fourteen-year-olds learn the skills to have healthy and safe relationships. For example, she teaches them to "wait a second and breathe" before they make a decision.

Ms. Miller says a big problem for young people is that television programs, video games and movies often show violent relationships. Mobile phones and the Internet can also create problems.

KELLY MILLER: "Now young people have access to one another 24/7, which I think really can complicate lives of young people that don't have the skills or boundaries or that ability to say, 'No I can't text you at two in the morning' or 'No, I really need to get to sleep by eleven because I've got a test tomorrow morning."