A study commissioned by Liz Claiborne and the loveisrespect.org website found out that an alarming number of teen relationships end up in verbal of physical abuse. The study was carried out on more that 1000 preteens or ‘tweens’ aged between 11 and 14, 523 parents and 626 teens.

According to the online survey, more than a half of the preteens aged 13-14 that were questioned said that they know someone who has been verbally abused by their girlfriend or boyfriend, and nearly one in five said they know someone who has been physically abused.

The rate is even higher for teenagers who have had sex before they turned 14, the survey says. 69 percent of them have been verbally or physically abused, and about one third of them were engaged at some point in a relationship in which some sort of physical abuse took place. This shows that teens should be cautious about having sex at early ages, since this experience seems to increase the risk of having an abusive relationship later on.

While two thirds of tween parents think they know everything about their childrens’ relationships, only about half of their children agree to them.

The study prompts the introduction of educational classes targeted at teaching students about abusive dating relationships. Rhode Island has already implemented this idea and requires all schools to inform teens about these things starting seventh grade and ending twelfth grade. The law, which is called “Lindsay Ann Burke,” was named after a 23 years old girl who was murdered by her boyfriend.