During summer vacation, even on weeknights,
teenagers are out on the town.
But for some, what looks like fun may be far
from it.
In some cases, in these happy, normal-looking
couples, a boy calls girlfriend stupid.
A boy grabs girlfriend and pulls her into a
room and starts screaming at her.
And that's nothing compared to what happened to
Belinda Rodriguez. Beans.
Belinda is from Garland.
In September, she'll enter the ninth grade.
I was violated.
She lived a long life for a 16-year-old.
Sandy Gaylord has counseled her for the past
several months
at a private nonprofit Dallas organization
called The Family Place.
During the school year, she talks to hundreds
of girls.
I asked the girls, I said,
I said, all of you who have not been hit by
your boyfriends at one point or another, raise
your hands.
Inevitably, 50% of the girls raise their hands.
What's more, she says, the violence among teens
is on the rise.
Teen counselors say many of the young abusers
grow up in homes filled with domestic violence.
And they also blame exposure to aggressive
behavior in films, on television, and in
contemporary music.
But no matter where it comes from, it often
steals the youth away from the young.
The physical abuse wasn't nothing compared to
the mental abuse that he gave me.
In counseling, this 16-year-old learned that no
one at any age should tolerate being abused.
Counselors say too many young people still have
that lesson to learn.
Craig Marks, Texas News 5.