There are three bills before the General Assembly that address issues associated with teen dating and associated violence.
HB 6629 would allow teens to secure a restraining order against an abusive teen dating partner. HB 6053 would revise the state's bullying law to include teen dating violence. And SB 1138 targets cyberbullying. The three proposed bills should get a floor vote in the coming weeks.
"The whole idea here is how teens can protect themselves through the legal system," said Bob Kocienda, chair of the Norwalk-based Center for Youth Leadership.
HB 6629 wouljd allow teens experiencing constant threat of present physical pain or physical injury, a pattern of verbal intimidation, threatening or stalking by family or someone in, or recently in, a dating relationship, to apply for a restraining order "regardless of the age of such persons."
Only two other states, Rhode Island and California, allow teens to get restraining orders against other teens.
Under the bill, police much inform victims of abuse about options, including restraining orders and where to find domestic violence help. The Judiciary Committee unanimously passed teh bill out of committee.
"Anything that strengthens anti-bullying efforts is very positive," said Dani Gorman, head of the Youth Services Bureau in Waterford. "A lot of young people struggle with healthy and unhealthy relationships."
Read entire article here.
By: Jessie King and Catheryn J. Prince, http://waterford.patch.com
Monday, May 16, 2011
General Assembly Takes Aim At Cyberbullying and Teen Violence
Monday, May 2, 2011
Does Drinking With Parents Help Teens Drink More Responsibly? Not Really
When I was in high school, my parents laid down a few ground rules about exactly how “liberating” my teenage emancipation was going to be. No driving without an adult in the car past dark, no staying out past 11 p.m., and no, absolutely no, drinking.
Well, it turns out Mom and Dad were on to something (don't you hate it when that happens?). A new study by researchers at the University of Minnesota found that teens who drink under their parents' supervision — the occasional sip at dinner or during holidays — are more likely to become problem drinkers a few years later than those whose parents, like mine, adopted a zero-tolerance policy.
When it comes to underage drinking, there are two schools of thought. Some are convinced that teens are too young and inexperienced to handle alcohol, and not ready to make decisions about how much is too much or how to drink responsibly.
Then there are those who point to cultures where alcohol isn't so taboo for adolescents, where adults allow their children to drink a little in their presence, and where alcoholism rates are no different from those in countries where underage drinking is illegal. By incorporating alcohol into youngsters' lives from an early age, and not making it a forbidden fruit, they argue, teens are less likely to abuse it as adults.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
