Electronic Harassment Poster- The Red Flag Campaign
The right words at the right time and texting is great. Threatening words texted day and night are a red flag. It may sound like a silly question to ask but after reading today’s article, Text messages become a growing weapon in dating violence, on the front page of the Washington Post Metro section it is a question that warrants discussion. We have all seen the commercials and even Oprah’s campaign “No phone zone” to not text or use the cell phone while you drive and to talk to your teens about the risks involved. But how often are parents talking to their teens about texting their dating or “hook-up” partners no matter where they are doing it from?
Harassment and intimidation has always been one of the spokes on the power and control wheel of domestic and dating violence. But the cell phone and electronic access to a dating partner is making harassment easier and allows violent relationships to escalate at an even faster rate.
From the article: “It is all part of what is increasingly called “textual harassment,” a growing aspect of dating violence at a time when cell phones and unlimited texting plans are ubiquitous among the young. It can be insidious, because messages pop up at the sender’s will: Where r u? Who r u with? Why didn’t u answer me?
“It’s gotten astonishingly worse in the last two years,” says Jill Murray, who has written several books on dating violence and speaks on the topic nationally. Especially for those who have grown up in digital times, “it’s part and parcel of every abusive dating relationship now.”
The harassed often feel compelled to answer the messages, whether they are one-word insults or 3 a.m. demands. Texts arrive in class, at the dinner table, in movie theaters — 100 or more a day, for some.
Harassment is “just easier now, and it’s even more persistent and constant, with no letting up,” says Claire Kaplan, director of sexual and domestic violence services at the University of Virginia, which became the focus of national attention in May with the killing of 22-year-old lacrosse player Yeardley Love.”
Read the whole article and let us know how you would talk to your teen, nephew/niece, students, or grandchildren about textual harassment.
Tags: Dating Violence
Linda Dunphy Executive Director Doorways
