A man is receiving cheers online for showing concern beyond family and romantic obligations.
A viral video posted to TikTok by Sophia Panella (@sophia.panella) revealed her boyfriend’s concern over her older sister, who, for the first time in four years, had gone on a date. The video shows him continuously checking his phone and texting her to check in. Since it was posted, the video has received over 345,000 likes and over 1,000 comments.
“When your boyfriend is stressing over your older sister who’s on her first real date in four years to make sure she’s safe,” Panella captioned the video. “You guys, when I tell you [he] was stressing over here just wanting her to have a good night and to be safe.”
With a series of concerned looks and phone checks, Panella’s boyfriend eagerly waited for his girlfriend’s older sister to come home. At the end of the video, viewers can be relieved that she appears with a big smile on her face.
Viewers in the comments gushed at the protective and caring gesture, noting its seriousness as well.
“I hope he understands how much this means to women,” @saraahjo_ wrote, to which Panella replied: “It’s such a scary world out there! Always triple checking the safety of my people.”
“This is exactly how it should be,” @bemchy wrote. “This is a quality that would make me love a man!”
Some shared their own stories of their sister’s boyfriends, or brother-in-laws looking out for them through romantic trials and tribulations.
“My sister’s boyfriend (younger) did the same to me for my first date after four years. I’m happy you both have good men,” @caitlynclark23 wrote.
“I literally have known my brother-in-law since I was 17! I’m 26 now, my sister and him just got married and they both witnessed the heartbreaks I’ve had in my life! Went on a first date Wednesday,” @daisydestiny__ wrote.
“I was sitting in a car with a guy after a date just talking and my sister and brother-in-law drove around the parking lot just to check in on me,” @sydgrosskopf wrote.
Newsweek reached out to @sophia.panella for comment via TikTok.
Drazen Zigic/Getty Images
Women’s Safety While Dating
Panella’s boyfriend had valid reason to worry about the woman’s safety. The dating landscape for women—especially online, though it’s not said how Panella’s sister met her date—is not always vetted or secure.
Pew Research Center data from 2020 revealed that a “notable share” of online daters have been victims of some form of harassment.
According to the survey, around three-in-ten or more online daters said someone online “continued to contact them after they said they were not interested.” Around the same percentage said they had received a sexually explicit message or image they didn’t ask for or had been called an “offensive name.”
Data from the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency revealed that the dangers of online dating stretch further: Since 2016, the number of female victims of online dating-related sexual assault has increased significantly.
The data showed that the number of female victims aged 19 and under rose from 12 percent to 22 percent.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.