Schools do little about dating violence

Adolescent dating violence is a significant public health problem affecting 9 percent to 34 percent of U.S. teens, but schools do little, researchers say. Jagdish Khubchandani and colleagues at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and colleagues at the University of Toledo said the study involved a national random sample of 550 high school counselors who were members of the American School Counselors Association. More than 81 percent of the school counselors reported they did not have a protocol in their schools to respond to an incident of adolescent dating violence, and 90 percent of counselors reported that in the past two years, training to assist survivors of teen dating abuse has not been provided to personnel in their schools. In addition, the study found 83 percent of school counselors said their school did not conduct periodic student surveys that include questions on teen dating abuse behaviors, and 76 percent said their school did not have a committee that meets periodically to address health and safety issues that include teen dating abuse. The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.