Chris Brown and Rhianna - Is there a real lesson there for teens?

Three weeks ago Chris Brown and his girlfriend, the beautiful singer Rhianna hit the newstands. There had been a huge fight involving physical violence and charges were laid. Is this just another tidbit of celebrity news? Maybe. But there can be a lesson in there for teens.

Domestic violence is real and it doesn't just happen in trailer parks and in the ghettos. It happens in real life. While Chris and Rhianna may not be the best example of "real life" celebs are real to teens.

Here's some facts about domestic violence and teens:

• Of tweens between the ages of 11-14, 62% say they have friends who have been verbally abused by a girlfriend/boyfriend (Liz Clairborne Inc. study, 2008)
• 1 our of every 3 teens says that they know of a friend who has been physically abused (slapped, kicked, choked, etc) by a boyfriend or girlfriend (Liz Clairborne Inc. study, 2005)
• Almost 80% of teen girls who have been physically abused in an intimate relationship continue to date their abuser (City of New York, Teen Relationship Abuse Fact Sheet, March 1998)
• 30% of young women between the ages of 15-19 who are killed each year were killed by their boyfriend/husband (City of New York, Teen Relationship Abuse Fact Sheet, March 2008)

Shocking isn't it? I think the one that got to me the most is the statistic about how 80% of teen girls that are abused continue to date their abuser. The question is why?

Hopefully though, with this celeb news coming about about Rhianna and Chris, teens will start to talk about teen dating violence because if they don't talk about it there will never be enough help.