Youth today communicate in very different ways than their parents and even their older siblings. Media and technology shape this generation’s perceptions and understanding of social norms more than any other previous generation. Online and mobile communication is an integral part of their lives, and a focal point of their social engagement. These technologies create both risks and opportunities.

Online and mobile technologies do not cause abuse, but they do make it easier for hurt, angry or abusive youth to harm the reputations and mental health of current or former dating partners. This kind of abuse frequently affects friends and fellow students, and it can put abusers in legal and other kinds of jeopardy. The same technologies, however, can be used to promote prevention and responsible bystander behavior.  Any effort to stop teen dating abuse and violence must help youth learn to use these technologies responsibly, and use them to disseminate powerful prevention messages.

Empowering youth to believe they can take action in their own lives to improve their relationships and choose friends with healthy relationships is an important element of behavior change. Progressing from knowledge to the more active empowerment and, finally, choices about behavior represents the continuum of change embedded in the outcomes of social marketing strategy.

Media Literacy Tools

	Sound Relationships: The next time you’re ready to download that song from iTunes, you may want to check out how healthy it is for you. Just as a nutritional label allows you to count the calories in a fast food hamburger, this tool helps to measure what’s in the songs you listen to and evaluate how healthy – or unhealthy – songs are.
	True View: Music videos can have an influence on our health and the health of our relationships so it is especially important to be a critical viewer. This tool helps users assess the healthy or unhealthy relationship images in music videos.
	Rated R seeks to help you find what’s real, responsible, respectful and right in relationships in movies, music and more. This tool will help you examine how relationships are portrayed in pop culture.