Any incident of adolescent dating aggression is both tragic and preventable (“In a courtroom steeped in sorrow, verdict is guilty,” Page A1, March 8). As many as 1 in 10 high school students in the United States are hit or hurt by a dating partner every year. Currently, our state provides zero dollars to schools specifically for education on healthy relationships. This is deplorable, and should be corrected immediately.
State legislators and voters care about our children. Therefore, they need to take action, right away, to help make sure that our schools, neighborhoods, and homes are safe places for teens. Lauren Astley’s death was preventable, which compounds the tragedy for us all.
The writer is an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.