Teach your adolescent the characteristics of a toxic partner

Adolescents do not know well how to differentiate a toxic person who is by their side in a romantic relationship, sometimes they believe that aggressive behaviors are normal or that showing jealousy in a pathological way is an intense way of loving. And anything farter from the reality! As parents, adolescent children should be taught to recognize a toxic partner in time so that in this way, they can get him out of their life as soon as possible.

Teens don’t realize early on what teen dating abuse is like. They may think that it only happens to ‘others’ and that it will never happen to them. They may also think that a girl cannot be abusive that this is only a boy thing … or that physical aggression is the only thing that counts.

As many as 23% of adolescents and 14% of children experience intimate partner violence before the age of 18. There are many children who are attacked by their partners so it is not something that should ‘go through’. The first step in preventing abuse of this type is teaching your children to be aware of the warning signs of emotional abuse. If this happens to you, then you will have to leave the relationship.

THERE’S NO RESPECT

If your child’s partner makes fun of him / her and insults him … it is clear that he is next to an aggressor. Other disrespectful behaviors are for example when he criticizes you, when he undermines his perceptions, when he tells him how he should feel instead of accepting his feelings or even when he accuses him of being too sensitive …

IT IS THOUGHT TO BE SUPERIOR

Toxic and abusive partners tend to be condescending and rude. You can speak your mind and tell if other people’s opinions don’t make sense (but yours does). He will always try to make others see that they are somehow inferior to him / her. It is a strategy to maintain power and control over your child and over others.

IT IS BASED ON INTIMIDATION

Has an intimidating behavior both physically and psychologically. In this way he will try to establish and maintain power and control over your child. To achieve this, they can be physically threatening with gestures (hitting walls, hitting pets or throwing furniture), showing psychological abuse (threats, shaming in public …) or using words of humiliation towards your child.

HAS NO EMPATHY

Lack of empathy is a lack of sensitivity to other people’s feelings and is a quality that emotionally abusive people often lack. They do not show genuine emotion or concern for other people. For example, they may show feelings, but they are not really sincere. Instead, they seem to put on a mask depending on the situations, but that doesn’t mean they are actually feeling it. They also lack remorse if they hurt others.

HE IS JEALOUS AND ENVIOUS

When jealousy or envy appears it is a very clear red card. Jealousy should not be confused with love. It is an insecure behavior that leads to control problems and represents the aggressor’s fear of losing the relationship.  If your child’s partner is overly jealous, you will have to talk about toxic personalities and how to end it.

CONTROL

He wants total control of the person and for this he will demand that he spend all the time by his side, control clothes or contact with other people … He is even capable of accusing your child of not being compromised by the relationship if you don’t meet all their demands or follow their ‘rules’ . They will also try to isolate your child at all costs (controlling the phone, criticizing friends and family to turn him against or manipulate him to get angry with those who do not like the aggressor).

It will also try to make your child feel small and worthless in front of others through humiliation. If your child receives insults from his partner, it is clear that the time has come to end the relationship as soon as possible.