Dating Violence

The need to have someone special in your life is particularly pressing in adolescence. But what happens when that relationship turns violent? Using dramatizations, this program offers information to teens on how to recognize an abusive relationship, and what to do about it. Media glorification of sex and violence, dysfunctional male role models, and thirst for control are examined as the roots of male violence toward women. Forms of abuse range from criticism, insults, humiliation, withholding affection, control over decision-making, and name-calling, to hitting, biting, and forced sex. A discussion on the importance of self-esteem, and how to rebuild it after leaving an abusive relationship, concludes the program on a hopeful note. (22 minutes)

This program looks at the effects of family violence on the abused and the abuser: at the danger that abused children will grow up to repeat the pattern of violence in their own relationships; at the problems of date violence; at the physical and emotional abuse women suffer at the hands of their husbands and lovers. While showing the benefits of therapy, it stresses the need of the abused for safety-through shelters, hot-lines, and community assistance-from those who abuse them. (28 minutes)

In one of the most powerfully written documentaries ever produced on the subject of teen dating violence, this video offers “life skills coaching,” wisdom, introspection, and solid advice on how to have positive relationships, while avoiding abusive ones. The positive advice is contrasted against the touching biographies of three homicide victims who were murdered by their boyfriends. The video offers substantial curriculum for both genders on how to spot the warning signs of emotional and physical abuse, ways to avoid abusive behavior in relationships, and a chapter on “How A Girl Can Protect Herself From Abusers.” Dozens of survival tips are derived from Jill Murray, expert on domestic and teen dating violence. Carrie Madsen brilliantly delivers in the role of “life coach” and the presentation is co-hosted by Suzanne Schultz, a veteran family crimes team leader with a district attorney’s office. The video concludes with several creative ways to successfully break the cycle of teen dating violence by devising an escape plan, safely ending an abusive relationship, and ultimately creating the kind of bonds in which you can “share the best you have to offer, not the worst.”

Grade Level: 6+. This documentary-style program explores how abusers engage in violence with the intent to exert power over their victims, isolating them from friends and family in order to gain complete control. Real teens talk about what they think constitutes abuse and why they may be vulnerable in romantic relationships.

The key to reducing violence is understanding its roots. This program offers insights and suggestions that can stop dangerous incidents before they start. Among the topics explored are ways to avoid becoming a victim of campus crime, domestic abuse and the cycle of violence theory as defined by psychologist Lenore Walker, date rape and guidelines for preventing it, the triggers for bias crimes, the factors that influence youth to join gangs, and how to handle sexual harassment in the workplace or at school. (29 minutes)

This riveting educational documentary helps viewers see how they can unwittingly be transformed from “victim of abuse” into “abuser.” Teen dating violence is an essential link that is both cause and effect for deeper cycles of domestic violence. Many young women mistakenly believe that getting the “bad boy” to love them makes them more special than all of the other girls. When this fails, desperate victims often fight back out of a sense of survival—if they survive. Not surprisingly, young women and young men are often too embarrassed to report the fact that they are being abused. Tragically, when children see the violence between Mom & Dad, this often sets the stage for a “next generation” of abuser and abused. The story is hosted by a veteran team leader of a district attorney’s family crimes division and authenticated by current and former inmates. All provide introspection and a candid, and sometimes disturbing look at harm that runs much deeper than visible physical scars. The video offers several ways to successfully break the cycle of domestic violence by recognizing the behavior for where it leads, ending the relationships, having an escape plan and changing the predictable outcomes.

Dating is an important part of becoming an adult, but it can also be confusing and frightening. This Emmy Award-winning program presents basic guidelines that clarify common myths, such as that no" really means "yes." Abuse and respect, sexual stereotypes, how to break up, and preventing violence are all discussed, along with what true love is ... and is not. Skits, dialogue, and quizzes engage the audience and present sensitive material in a very hip format. (26 minutes)"