In today's digital society, teens are becoming increasingly reliant upon technology in their everyday lives. Teenagers are glued to their mobile devices, personal computers, email, and social networking profiles. Just as cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter are all common aspects of a teenager's life, unfortunately so is teen dating violence. Although abusive relationships among teenagers is not new to the list of issues plaguing the teens of today, it is drawing the attention of some public health officials who have found a correlation between the use of social media technology and teen dating violence.Dr. Donna Howard is a professor of Public and Community Health and youth empowerment enthusiast at the University of Maryland who is currently researching healthy and harmful teen dating relationships and the positive and negative influences that social media has on those type of relationships.
Teen Dating Violence And How It Relates To Social Media
Dr. Howard addresses her interests in social media technology and its impact on healthy and unhealthy teen relationships.
How Teenage Girls Really Feel About Healthy And Harmful Dating Relationships
If you consider how much time teenagers spend using social media technology, then it should be no surprise that social media sites can become tools of abuse from any dating partner. Dating violence can occur within any age group, however, dating violence through the use of social media technology is especially prevalent among adolescents. Dr. Howard discusses her research and data collection from high school girls who voice their opinions of how the media influences their behavior and self image and how popular media sources like MTV have become active with a campaign to end abuse. MTV has launched a campaign titled "A Thin Line" to stop abuse in the form of sexting, cyber-bullying, and digital abuse.How Does Social Media Technology Affect The Health Of Adolescents?
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become a breeding ground for abuse and discrimination. Teenagers are masked by their computer screens which makes it easier and more enticing for them to bully a peer. Teen dating abuse through the use of social technology is psychologically damaging teens more so than physically. Teenagers who have been digitally abused often suffer from anxiety, depression, and anti-social behavior. Dr. Howard explains how social media technology can be used as a tool for teen dating violence.
Teen dating violence is an important issue in the lives of countless adolescents. Even though social media has many negative effects on adolescents in terms of teen dating violence, it can also be the force that is protecting adolescents from abuse.
Video shot with Ipod touch camera.


