It may be hard to finish this article because of how uncomfortable it is, but that’s okay. It is an uncomfortable subject. Students don’t like to talk about dating violence because it is such a personal and controversial topic.

“[Dating violence] is an emotional topic; it impacts someone’s life in a harsh way,” junior Brooke Sandoval said. “People are scared to talk about it because they don’t want to start controversy and drama where they don’t think needs to be started. But it should be started so that awareness can be raised.”

Dating violence is a broad topic. It covers so many different aspects that sometimes, the lines are blurred between what is or what is not considered as date violence.

“[Dating violence is when you are] being insensitive to someone in a way that you know bothers them, but you don’t care,” senior Jessie Miller said. “Or, obviously, if you [physically] hit them.”

As students, the topic doesn’t come up in conversations. Because it isn’t a topic that is talked about often, students often don’t understand what dating violence is. As a result, it is hard for students to get help if they are a victim of date violence.

“There is no single way to tell,” junior Tyler Truong said. “I usually can tell just by the vibes and atmosphere when I talk to them. If they are extremely hesitant to talk about their girlfriend or boyfriend, that would be a red flag to me.”

Identifying red flags is only the first step. Dealing with consequences and outcomes is the next step. For the victims, it can be difficult to get over a situation like this.

“A lot of people with serious situations go to therapy,” Miller said. “Or they have certain friends that they can trust and talk about it with until it isn’t so uncomfortable or debilitating.”

Yet, the punishment for the abuser is, more times than not, insufficient; they don’t receive any punishment sometimes because of how our society works.

“[Society] sees it negatively, but they don’t actually know what it is,” Sandoval said. “Society should view it as a bad thing. It shouldn’t be viewed as okay at all.”

It’s hard to prevent something that most people don’t even know is happening around them.

“People need to be more aware of it and not as tolerant,” Miller said. “People will tell you to just ignore it or that you are just being dramatic. And that’s not the right way to handle any situation.”

After finding out about the situation, it can be hard to proceed because students don’t know what to do after.

“Everybody wants to believe that they’re in a perfect relationship,” Miller said. “So they do everything to make that true.”

Although society has come far in recognizing dating violence, there’s still a long way to go.

“Media needs to portray it [because] it happens to so many people,” Sandoval said. “Even though a lot of people don’t share their stories, people need to know that it does happen.”

If you are a victim of dating violence, call: 1-866-331-9474 or text: LOVEIS to 22522 for 24/7/365 assistance.