When Young Love Turns Dangerous

May 18, 2006 — -- A year and a half ago, 16-year-old Nicole Lambert was rushed to the hospital, an 8-inch kitchen knife stuck deep in her back.

Nicole had been stabbed by her ex-boyfriend in the hallway of Romeo High School, in a suburb of Detroit. She spent three weeks in the hospital but eventually recovered. Eric Schorling, 17, was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in jail for the attack.

Nicole's story began much like the stories of young victims of dating violence -- a sweet and devoted boyfriend becomes steadily more controlling, jealous and possessive. The young woman becomes more withdrawn and spends less time with friends and family as he demands more of her time.

It's a pattern that parents of teen girls need to look out for, say experts. According to the Justice Department, 16- to 24-year-old women are the victims of physical, verbal or sexual abuse in relationships more often than any other age group.

Eric and Nicole spent most of their sophomore year as sweethearts.

Eric, with his unkempt hair and slacker demeanor, played class rebel -- a quality that attracted the shy and reserved Nicole.

But alone with her, he showed a softer, romantic side, Nicole said. "Me and him were sitting in the car, the windows were getting foggy. And he wrote with his finger on the window, 'Will you go out with me?' And it was just sweet, and so I said, 'Yeah.'"

To Nicole's friends, Eric seemed like a devoted boyfriend.

"He'd be, like, standing there, waiting for her, every single day outside of her class," said her friend Lindsay Gibson. "And then, you know, she'd come out and they'd hold hands and walk down the hallway together."

Nicole said, "We were just crazy about each other."

But her enthusiasm did not impress her parents. Her mother, Michelle, said her first reaction to Eric was "cut your hair, clean up." And her father, Dan, said he referred to him as "idiot slacker."

But Nicole's parents found out that it didn't do much good to complain about Eric; in fact, it only encouraged her to like him more.