Self esteem and dating for teens

In addition to putting kids at risk for early sexual activity, dating in the young teen years interferes with the many healthy activities kids this age need to be doing.

In fact, many kids start dating young just because they're bored.

In many cases, self-esteem and domestic violence go hand in hand.

Dating partners with lower self-esteem have a tendency to stay in abusive dating relationships.

Q: Our 14-year-old daughter is asking us about dating, and my husband and I have told her she'll have to wait until she's 16 for maturity reasons. Juli: Dating is one of those parenting issues that every family seems to approach differently. It's great to get to know the opposite gender and it's OK to like someone.

We want her to know this is about love, not control, and that we want to help protect her from sexual temptation. I'd approach this situation by normalizing your daughter's desire to "date." A lot of her friends are probably "dating," and having a boyfriend may be a big aspect of popularity.

Basically, dating violence offenders always feel the need to be in control of their partners (victims).

The less control an offender feels, the more they want to hurt and the greater the attempts to control.

Males with low self-esteem are more likely to become perpetrators of dating violence, while females with low self-esteem often become victims.