Study Sheds Light On Dating Violence in Texas Public Schools

Almost 1.5 million high school students suffer from dating violence every year, and Texas was the first state to mandate school policies on dating violence, according to a new study.

Yet Texas still has a long way to go in the fight against teen dating violence.

The Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University found one-third of the school districts in Texas don’t make it clear enough to students that they can receive counseling after suffering from dating violence.

Also, none of the districts offered safety provisions for victims, such as the ability to transfer from a class or campus.

“One-third of school districts in Texas don’t make it clear

enough to students that they can receive counseling.”

Researchers found an encouraging 90 percent of Texas schools have implemented anti-dating violence policies since 2007, yet most of these schools failed to provide their students with proper information on teen dating violence.

Those schools who did offer these materials often made them hard for students to find.

The study also found most school districts in Texas treat violence as little more than “misconduct” or “mistreatment.”

The repercussions schools placed upon violent students were often too general to be effective and the specific repercussions varied from school to school and district to district.

Source: Crime Victims’ Institute via Sam Houston State University. Photo source: safe.eku.edu.