Okay, I’m sure we all don’t have perfect parents. Some of us may think our parents are dorky, funny looking, or embarrassing. But you know that they are there for you.
There are many teens out there whose parents aren’t there for them.
I met an 18-year-old girl, who I’ll call Eva. She has suffered from domestic violence her whole life. Teens like Eva want attention from their parents. It doesn’t matter how they look, dress or anything as long as they are receiving the love and attention from them. “All I ever wanted was to just feel loved by my parents, but I guess that’s too much to ask for,” she says.
Many of these teens are being abused in numerous ways. In a survey of 6,000 American families, 50% of the men who assaulted their wives also abused their kids. Between 3.3 and 10 million children go through some form of domestic violence. This is a lot of kids!
Being abused can affect you mentally.
“It’s affected me really bad and I’ve done things that I’ve regretted, I’ve ran away, done drugs, been sexually active and more,” says Eva. “I have also dropped out of high school, and got pregnant,” she adds.
NOBODY deserves to be treated like this.It is hard to realize that you are being abused, especially if it’s been happening to you for a while.
“I hate my parents, I’ve never felt loved or wanted by them, my mom’s afraid ofstanding up to my dad so she just takes it all out on me,” says Eva. “Because of my mom being afraid it’s caused her to force me to have an abortion.”
Being abused may cause you to have trouble sleeping, eating, and concentrating; many don’t care about school or life. The ones who are abused often blame themselves for why they are being hit. Usually the person who is abusing threatens the person by saying, “If you say anything I will hurt you more.”
Or, “Say something and I’ll kill your mother.”
But being scared and doing nothing is worse. “My advice to anyone out there, if you are being abused by anyone, is to get help…before it’s too late,” Eva says. “There are people that do listen and will help you.”
Read more artices written by teens for teens at sex changes everything.