On Saturday October 26 at 10 PM, CBS will be airing a 48 Hours report on dating and breakup violence among teenagers, specifically focusing on the case of Lauren Astley, who was murdered by her boyfriend Nathaniel Fujita in 2011. I had the opportunity to attend a special pre-screening and talk about the broadcast with CBS correspondent Tracy Smith, 48 Hours executive producer Susan Zirinsky, Casey Corcoran of Futures Without Violence, and Malcolm Astley, Lauren’s father.
The special and the talk center around not only Lauren Astley, who tragically lost her life while secretly meeting up with her ex-boyfriend to see how he was coping with the breakup, but with the larger issue of breakup violence and violent relationships in our society. Key among the discussion of this issue are two things: knowing the signs of a violent relationship, and acting upon that information.
“It’s very difficult to separate normal behavior from something that’s going to go over the edge,” said Zirinsky, of teen relationships in particular. “Adults haven’t taken this seriously,” Smith added, claiming that most people brush some of the more subtle, emotional signs of an unhealthy relationship off as simply “teen drama,” when they may actually be the indicators of something deadly. Education about this sort of thing isn’t just important for parents, however– teens, as well, tend to be the mediators among their friends before adults even know about the situation. For that reason, education about relationships “needs to start from the beginning,” according to Malcolm Astley, who now travels to schols and rallies advocating for awareness of the issue. An ally in his cause is Corcoran, who uses a platform of “the birds, the bees, and the butterflies” (i.e. adding a discussion about relationship safety to the standard discussion of sexuality) to stress the importance of talking with children about healthy relationships.
Breakup and dating violence is an important issue, one that affects everyone in one way or another. To find out more, be sure to check out 48 Hours: “Loved to Death,” on CBS Saturday, October 26, at 10PM.
