Is Your Teen Dating a Stalker?
It's always bittersweet when your teen starts dating. You want them to experience love just as much as you want to protect them. When the hormones take over and your teen is blinded by love, will they see the signs of a stalker? As parents it's our job to use experience and knowledge to keep our kids safe, even if it's from themselves. Stalking is just one of the dangers that you can prevent your teen from being involved in.
Social activities are limited. If you have a teen that's normally pretty active socially, then begins to limit their social activities with flimsy explanations as to why, you might question the influence their new boyfriend or girlfriend has on them. Are there actions being restricted by the things that are deemed to be appropriate by the new friend? Make sure your teen isn't secluding themselves from loved ones because of a new relationship.
Your teen never goes anywhere without their new love. It's pretty normal to want to spend large amounts of time with someone that you're interested in. It's not normal or healthy for every waking moment to be consumed by one person.
They show up uninvited. There are times when you just want to have a family day so that you can catch up with each other and bond as a family unit. Or, maybe there are just days when you don't want visitors at the house. If your teens new love comes over no matter what kind of a day you planned and regardless of whether or not they were invited, this could be a sign of an obsession or a complete lack of manners. Either way, it needs to be addressed.
They begin seeking out alternative methods of contact. Maybe your teen decided to shut their phone off for the day. The potential stalker may call a numerous amount of times or start contacting friends and family members instead. They may even come to the house or send friends over to see what's going on. This isn't healthier and the earlier it starts in the relationship, the worse it will get as time goes on.
They take desperate measures. Stalkers will leave notes on cars, contact family members, drive by the house and visit regular haunts that your teen goes to. They become obsessed and go to extreme measures. This will escalate until they are stopped.
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References: Personal Experience
Published by Kathy Foust - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle
Kathy is a professional freelance writer, student and mother. Her goal is to provide useful information that's easy to understand and that may even be entertaining! View profile
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