Staff Vote – Yes: 0, No: 24

Before tackling this question, The Bell staff defined what a dangerous dating relationship is. It is a relationship that can be damaging to a person’s physical or mental health. This could come in the form of physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse and anything in between.

As a staff, we started by asking teachers what they thought about this question. They all said students don’t know how to get out of dangerous relationships. Although all of the teachers agreed, some of them had different takes on why students don’t know how to leave dangerous dating relationships.

Most of the teachers said students don’t know how to talk to someone about it because they’re too embarrassed. One teacher said students were too prideful to talk about abusive relationships. Others said most students don’t realize they are in a dangerous relationship because they don’t have enough experience with dating in general.

When the discussion was passed, The Bell staff thoughts aligned with teachers. One staff member said some people know they’re in dangerous relationships but don’t leave because they’re so infatuated with the idea of being in a relationship.

However, some staff members were most concerned with how students can safely leave a dangerous relationship. The Bell staff came to the conclusion that the key to safely leaving a dangerous relationship is support. Whether that be a person’s peers, school teachers, counselors, a professional consultant, friends or family, simply being there for someone who is going through a dangerous relationship could help them.