In 2009, I spent weeks talking to my girls group about teen dating violence when Chris Brown assaulted Rihanna.  A couple weeks ago a teen mother in Prince George’s County was killed by the father of her child who then took his own life.  Last week, I dialogued with adults about the “Chris Brown can beat me anytime” social media responses after Chris’ Grammy Award wins.  On yesterday Drake tweeted “A jealous girlfriend is a faithful girlfriend. If she doesn’t get jealous when someone has your attention, it’s because someone has hers.” There is not enough time today to give my commentary on any of these and dozens of other encounters and conversations I’ve had around teen dating violence.  Today I am just getting to the facts.

Teen dating is physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence within a dating relationship which includes stalking. It can occur in person or electronically (social media and texting) and may occur between a current or former dating partner. Dating violence crosses all racial, economic and social lines.