Abuse is no Joke

Andrew is a thirteen year old who lives in a nice suburb with his father and mother. After school he finds places to hangout because he is too scared to go home at night because his father treats him very badly and often talks down to him. His father drinks too much after a hard day of work and Andrew usually witnesses his mother being beat for any minor reason. Andrew is too scared to talk to his school counselor about his father because he might get in trouble with his father and he is afraid of what people might say about his situation. One day Andrew goes home to find his mother bruised and battered and he decides to take matters into his own hands. Andrew's father comes home and sees that his family is trying to leave him. He begins to beat Andrew and threatens his mother's life. Andrew and his mom are victims of Abuse.



Abuse, Domestic violence, and rape can be crippling to the body and mind. If the person you're involved with acts controlling, aggressive, coercive, or violent, that's abuse. Relationships can be abusive even if there is no hitiing: abuse can be verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual, or a combination of these. Any demographic can find themselves victim to abuse...black, white, young, old, male, female, poor and rich. Just think of the movies that touch on the topic of abuse, Antoine Fisher, Tina Turner, The Jackson Five Movie and Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion. All of these movies show how abuse effects your self-worth, your family, and your everyday life. Abuse does not and will not be tolerated. The first step of conquering it is recognizing your self-worth and value your self esteem. It's funny how all of our lectures are related and can serve as answers to similar problems. The Anger Management lecture touched on how anger can be conquered. Anger is weakness for the abuser. If you can control your anger you are in control of yourself and you realize the potential of how your actions effect another person. The Love and Loss lecture stressed the importance of self-worth and self esteem. If you do not love yourself then why would you expect someone else to do the same. The Communication lecture touched on the importance on communicating your problems with an adult/parent. Communicate with a parent, friend, or an authority figure to help you with an abusive relationship. Believe it, these lectures are actually the steps to take in an abusive relationship and can save a life. Sadly, one of the reasons that cause abusive relationships to continue is that people are too afraid to seek help. If you truly care about yourself and your family you will take action.




Today the boys and girls had separate lectures on abuse. The boys focused on how to control anger and positively express anger and how to prevent an abusive relationship. The girls discussed the signs of abuse, how to deal with it, and how to get help when it is needed. Believe it or not boys are often found in an abusive relationships with their parent. The abusive behavior is then "inherited" and eventually plays out in their own intimate relationships, thus contributing to the cycle of abuse. Did you know that women, especially teens experience sexual abuse with their boyfriends/husbands, and even fathers? Girls and women ages 16 to 24 are most likely to be abused in a dating relationship.It is very important that you know the signs of an abusive relationship so you can save a friend or your self.

An Abusive relationship often causes verbal, physical, mental, abuse, threatens you if you try to seek help, an abuser can have dominance over finances ( so they can make it hard for you to leave), an abuser wants to know where you are every second of the day, an abuser will do anything to get their way, and an abuser isolates you from other people.

Based on Andrew's story which I have previously mentioned, to solve his problem he should have told a friend. a policeman, and counselor about his situation. Fear should be conquered. Andrew was too afraid to talk to any of these people but by doing so he could have saved himself and his mother. Many people are too afraid to seek help but remember the possibility of getting hurt is far more serious than what people may think about your situation.

For more information on abuse please call your local police station and go to counseling. Life is precious...live it and live it responsibly