DELAWARE SCHOOLS AND TEEN DATING VIOLENCE
Should a school district in Delaware be held liable when it fails to protect a female student who is a victim of dating violence while she’s at school? This is the first in a series of articles on this topic. Let’s start with an explanation of the problem.
As far as I can tell, Delaware is lagging behind some other states in protecting young girls from teen dating violence. The only law on the books at this time is one that allows persons in a current or former substantive dating relationship to apply for a domestic violence protective order. However, it also appears that Delaware is finally getting the message. Here are the most recent actions by Delaware’s General Assembly.
Last year, for example, Delaware created a Teen Dating Violence Task Force to evaluate and make recommendations on policies for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Education in Delaware. The reason the task force was created was because teen dating violence has become a prevalent problem in high schools, junior high schools and middle schools throughout the U.S. The Task Force was required to submit its written report and recommendations by May 1, 2010. It appears that there’s been some sort of delay, and I’m looking into it.
In the meantime, the month of February of 2010 was designated as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention month in the State of Delaware. The basis for designation was the following:
(1) approximately 1 in 4 adolescents report verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse each year;
(2) 61% of teens in a relationship say that a partner has made them feel bad or embarrassed about themselves;
(3) 40% of teenage girls between 14 and 17 years of age reported being physically abused or sexually abused by a dating partner;
(4) 1 in 4 teens in a relationship say they have been called names, harassed, or put down by their partner during cell phone conversations and in text messages;
(5) 2/3 of these teens were with someone who they said acted jealously and who regularly asked where and with whom they were;
(6) almost 1/3 of girls who have been in a relationship said they’ve been pressured to have sex or to engage in sexual acts when they didn’t want to do so;
(7) 25% of pregnant teens reported being physically abused by their boyfriends, and half of those pregnant teens said the battering began or intensified after their boyfriends learned of their pregnancy;
(8) violent relationships in adolescence can have serious ramifications, causing victims to be at a higher risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual behavior, unplanned pregnancy, suicide, and adult re-victimization;
(9) a study of adolescents and college students revealed that date rape accounted for 67% of sexual assaults;
(10) 81% percent of parents surveyed don’t realize that this is a problem.
