David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Many dating teens get high-tech abuse
By David Alexander
Thu Feb 8, 2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jealous teenagers often use cell phones and computers to harass and control their romantic partners, and most victims of the abuse are reluctant to discuss it with their parents, a survey showed on Thursday.
The survey, carried out by Teenage Research Unlimited, found nearly 25 percent of teens in a relationship had received hourly text messages or phone calls to check up on them between midnight and 5 a.m. One out of six said they had received messages 10 or more times an hour overnight.
"According to our experts, contacting someone that frequently with those kinds of questions is simply about control and intimidation. It's not a casual conversation," said Jane Randel, a vice president for clothing retailer Liz Claiborne Inc., which commissioned the survey.
The survey was released at the launch of the loveisrespect.org, The National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline, an Internet and telephone service to help teenagers involved in abusive relationships. It is sponsored by Liz Claiborne and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
More than a third of the teens questioned for the survey said a boyfriend or girlfriend had harassed them with text messages, and a quarter said their partner had used a cell phone, e-mail, blog or Web chat to insult them.
One in five said their boyfriends or girlfriends had used cell phones, e-mail or Instant Messaging to press them for sex, and one in 10 said they had been threatened with violence, the study found.
Victims of abusive behavior were reluctant to tell their parents. Seventy-two percent said they had not told them about receiving a harassing number of e-mails or text messages, and 82 percent had not told them about being pressed to engage in sexual activity, the survey said.
Asked about why they had not told their parents about the abusive behavior, nearly half said the problem was not serious, and more than a quarter said they feared losing access to the technology, either cell phone or computer, the survey said.
The online survey, carried out from December 15 to 22, questioned 615 youngsters age 13 to 18 and 414 parents of teens in that age range.
By David Alexander
Thu Feb 8, 2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jealous teenagers often use cell phones and computers to harass and control their romantic partners, and most victims of the abuse are reluctant to discuss it with their parents, a survey showed on Thursday.
The survey, carried out by Teenage Research Unlimited, found nearly 25 percent of teens in a relationship had received hourly text messages or phone calls to check up on them between midnight and 5 a.m. One out of six said they had received messages 10 or more times an hour overnight.
"According to our experts, contacting someone that frequently with those kinds of questions is simply about control and intimidation. It's not a casual conversation," said Jane Randel, a vice president for clothing retailer Liz Claiborne Inc., which commissioned the survey.
The survey was released at the launch of the loveisrespect.org, The National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline, an Internet and telephone service to help teenagers involved in abusive relationships. It is sponsored by Liz Claiborne and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
More than a third of the teens questioned for the survey said a boyfriend or girlfriend had harassed them with text messages, and a quarter said their partner had used a cell phone, e-mail, blog or Web chat to insult them.
One in five said their boyfriends or girlfriends had used cell phones, e-mail or Instant Messaging to press them for sex, and one in 10 said they had been threatened with violence, the study found.
Victims of abusive behavior were reluctant to tell their parents. Seventy-two percent said they had not told them about receiving a harassing number of e-mails or text messages, and 82 percent had not told them about being pressed to engage in sexual activity, the survey said.
Asked about why they had not told their parents about the abusive behavior, nearly half said the problem was not serious, and more than a quarter said they feared losing access to the technology, either cell phone or computer, the survey said.
The online survey, carried out from December 15 to 22, questioned 615 youngsters age 13 to 18 and 414 parents of teens in that age range.