Throughout the history of humanity, there have been some benchmarks of maturity: puberty, being one of the milestones in reaching adulthood. But a point that is rather essential is whether the brain is developed enough for people to be making crucial mature decisions. In reality, to analogue puberty as a gate to adulthood is debatable. There are far too many contradictory points, seeing that the average age to begin puberty is 11-12 years old. For example, the adolescent brain immaturity has been utilised to form the case that teenagers ought to be considered less punishable for violations they commit. Paralleling to that, a logic has been used to argue that these adolescents are insufficient to create independent choices regarding their reproductive health. From that point, it is safe to say that the capability of one adolescent to be responsible is still in the grey area.
Teen dating violence is frequently found in society these days; unhealthy relationships being the foundation of it, and that includes physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse. As time passes by, with modernisation and globalisation, the parameter of dating that once belonged to high schoolers or even people in the older age range seems to have shifted. Romantic relationships have seemed to be tolerated to bloom in earlier teens’ lives now. On the other hand, these adolescents are still developing themselves. They are still learning how to control their feelings, recognising rights and responsibilities, or even differentiating between what is right or wrong. In that case, teens are often not mature enough to maintain a healthy relationship.
As a teen, or pre-teen in some cases, there are many experiences yet to be encountered. Curiosities; newfound desires; exposure to television, music, movies, and pop culture play a great role in shaping one’s mind. Although it would be unfair to say that the world we now live in is not ideal, it is somehow true. Violence is displayed everywhere: in movies, television series and many more. The fact that the lack of supervision is often present as a factor does not help the sponge-like manner these adolescents possessed in terms of growing up. They have the tendency to absorb the things they see, and without their guardian’s supervision, they might think violence is allowed to be acted on someone else.
In terms of teen dating violence, it might be caused by the mental immaturity of these adolescents. They are not mature enough to communicate their feelings to their partners. This also happens because they do not understand how to communicate effectively in general. Not to mention, the mental state of adolescents these days is concerning. Some of them suffer from depression, anxiety and many more psychological problems. In some cases, drugs, and alcohol are involved too. Romantic relationships are not all sunshine and flowers: when there is a problem in their relationship, violence can occur as a response of their mental immaturity. Physical abuse, such as hitting, biting, shoving, and hair pulling, as well as emotional abuse, such as bullying, shaming, intentionally embarrassing are included as teen dating violence. Sexual violence often occurs in the form of forcing their partner to engage in sexual acts without their consent. This includes blackmailing, harassment, and other things. Again, their mental immaturity is causing these things. It is very important to highlight consent in initiating sexual activity and these adolescents might be missing the nuances of consent.
The frequency of these cases is high; that is why it has become a common public health problem. To prevent this from happening as it could cause serious consequences in their future, it takes effort from the individuals and the surrounding. Although adolescents are not exactly very forthcoming to their authority figures, it is essential to build an open communication where they could feel comfortable in seeking assistance. Make sure that they are valued as a person, and educate how important trust, honesty, respect, responsibility, and consent in order to maintain a healthy relationship.