City to hold forum on teen dating abuse
One in 11 Boston high schools students report being physically harmed by a date, friend, or acquaintance, according to a new finding from the Boston Public Health Commission.
The findings, soon to be released as part of the commission's 2009 report on the health of Boston, is all too familiar to Mia Alvarado, executive director of Roxbury Youthworks Inc., a nonprofit organization that works with abused teens.
"In the last five years, I've heard more stories from young women about incidences both verbal and physical involving their boyfriends," Alvarado said. "Oftentimes it's an older young man or an adult that they are involved with."
The new finding, announced yesterday, renews the focus on teens' attitudes on dating in Boston, which gained international attention last month after more than half of those surveyed blamed pop star Rihanna for the beating she suffered, allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend, Chris Brown.
In an effort to listen and learn, the commission will hold a forum today at Northeastern University to hear directly from teens about their own experience with dating abuse and their views on the topic.
"For the past month, people across the country have been talking about Boston teens because of the survey," said Casey Corcoran, director of the commission's Start Strong Initiative, which works to prevent dating violence among teens. "We need to make sure we are not talking about them, but that we are talking with them."
At the forum today, the teens will be asked not only to voice their opinions on the topic, but also to help health providers interpret the results of last month's survey. The forum, titled "Beyond Rihanna and Chris Brown: Moving the Conversation Forward about Teen Dating Violence," will begin at 4 p.m. in the Curry student center at Northeastern.
Corcoran said he hopes teens and adults will come to a common understanding about what a healthy relationship should be.
"I don't think that we've given them the skills to talk about it," he said. "We haven't given them the space to talk about it. This is a very sensitive issue. . . . Oftentimes we only have these conversations with young people when there is a big incident. We need to help them get involved in being part of the solution."
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com. 
