The one point I want to emphasize to both sexes is to stay safe while you date!
Any date has the potential to become a dangerous, even life-threatening situation.
The answer isn’t to give up dating. After all, you stand a good chance of getting
assaulted in the workplace, too but most people don’t quit their jobs. The answer
is to stay alert and be informed. The following are some important tips to help
keep you out of harm’s way:
Value Your Privacy
You wouldn’t go up to a stranger on the street and
give him or her your home
address, would you? Then why give it out to a first
date or someone you’ve met on
the Internet? The same is true for other personal
information: phone numbers,
places of employment, etc. When you reveal too much,
too fast you leave yourself
vulnerable. Instead of meeting your date at his or her
apartment, meet them at an
agreed upon public location. For communications, use
cell phones and pagers
instead of home or work numbers and avoid giving out
specifics about your job or
routine until you get to know the person better. The
first date may go well- then
again it may not. There is no reason for your first
date to know your personal
information until you know there will be at least some
future contact and you feel
more comfortable with them.
Stay Public
Until you get to know someone better, you should keep
your relationship as public
as possible. Don’t go back to his place, don’t drive
together in her car and don’t
meet in an isolated area. Most out-of-control situations occur when
there are noother people around.
Instead, only go to
public locations on dates, drive
separately, and never go back to their place. If you
avoid potentially dangerous
situations, you will stay safe.
Stay In-Control
One of the biggest mistakes you can make on a date is
to impair your judgment
with drugs or alcohol. When you are under their
influence, your thoughts may
become clouded and your ability to respond
appropriately to situations will become
hindered. Your safety is too important to risk on a
temporary buzz.
Protect Yourself Appropriately
It’s natural for a dating relationship to move to the
next level but when that time
comes, you have a responsibility to yourself and to
your partner to use protection.
Bring condoms and any other preferred birth control
devices along on the date
every time so that if things do escalate to that next
level, you won’t have the
opportunity to be tempted to engage in an unprotected
activity that may have dire
consequences for both of you.
Plan for an Alternative Ride
If things are going bad or if you’re feeling
uncomfortable, you need to have an easy
way out. If you don’t want to drive separately, at
least come prepared with enough
cash for an alternative way home. Whether it’s a bus,
a cab or a subway, it’s better
than an uncomfortable car ride.
Tell Someone Your Plans
It may be your best friend, your sister, or even your
mom. Make sure when you
are going out on the town that you inform someone
close to you of your plans. You
don’t need to fax them a detailed itinerary, but you
should tell them who you’ll be
with and where you’re going.
It may seem
ridiculous or unnecessary, but if
something does happen to you at least someone will
know how to begin looking for
you.
Trust Your Instincts
Trust your instincts- but more importantly, trust
yourself. If you are in a situation
that makes you feel uncomfortable, even if you can’t
pinpoint the reason, trust your
feelings. Don’t wait for something to happen, just
free yourself from the situation
as soon as possible.
By following these safety precautions, you’ll insure
that all you need to worry about
on your next date is the good night kiss.
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