Preventing teen dating violence, that's the goal of Hidalgo County District Attorney Terry Palacios.

His office prosecutes more than 7,000 domestic violence cases yearly.

On Friday, the 10th Annual Young Hearts Matter event took place in Edinburg. More than 200 high school and college students attended.

The event offered self-defense classes, painting classes and prevention education.

"We're trying to plant the seed early on to try to break the cycle, because a lot of these kids come from families that normalize domestic violence and think a wife or a spouse is a possession and it's not. We got to try to break that cycle," Palacios said.

A second event is planned for next Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Weslaco High School's Bobby Lackey Gym.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.