Healthy Relationships
Relationships are complicated, important things. Learning to create and maintain healthy relationships is a learned skill that can help people throughout their lifetimes. That’s why it’s important for parents to teach their kids about healthy relationships and for kids to talk to their parents about their relationships.
What is a healthy relationship? Three main features of a healthy relationship are mutual respect, trust, and balance.
Mutual respect means that both parties in the relationship feel liked and valued for who they are. No one is trying to change or control the other person, and no one is trying to force the other to cross personal boundaries, especially those involving sex.
Trust involves creating a sense of security with another person. Trust is established over time through honesty, reliability, and consistency. You should be able to trust the person you in a relationship with to tell you the truth and to maintain confidences.
Balance refers to a give and take in the relationship. No one person dominates in terms of deciding what to do, whom the couple spends time with, or what interests either party has. Both parties still maintain their own interests and friends.
***
In 2012, SCC partnered with McLean High School PTSA, Langley High School PTSA, The Madeira School, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology PTSA, the SCC will present a full-spectrum program called, “What’s Love Got To Do With It? Healthy Relationships and Dating” in recognition of Teen Dating Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, February 2012. Along with parent and teen volunteers, many local businesses and local officials joined us in this awareness raising campaign.
- JGilberts Restaurant donated space for a large banner advertising the event that is now placed in front of their restaurant sign at the corner of Dolley Madison Boulevard and Old Dominion Road.
- Books-A-Million and Chicken Out worked with our planning committee and held fundraising activities in support of Healthy Relationship programs. On February 3rd and 4th, Books-A-Million donated a portion of their sales toward this community-wide endeavor and on February 4th, Chicken Out Rotisserie of McLean did the same. A portion of sales made during those times will go to support future programs.
- We worked with our Board of Supervisors’ offices and received a Proclamation declaring February 2012 as Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month in Fairfax County by Chairman Sharon Bulova. This issue was also brought up as a “Board Matter. It can be found on page 27, #29 at the following link – http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/bosclerk/summary/2012/12-01-24.pdf.
- FCPS School Board Chairman Janie Strauss had a resolution supporting our efforts read into the record at the School Board meeting on January 26th http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=8QVF723DAA49.
- Additional outreach in partnering with our local media also garnered results. Published in a recent edition of the McLean Connection and Great Falls Connection about this issue, please see page 8 at the following links - http://files.connectionnewspapers.com/PDF/current/McLean.pdf.
- Further coverage on community-wide activities in the press is included at the following link - http://www.mcleanconnection.com/news/2012/feb/07/forum-mclean-high-promoting-healthy-relationships.
To learn more about healthy (and unhealthy) relationships, check out these helpful links:
For adults:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have some helpful tips for parents to talk with their kids and teens about healthy relationships. The site notes that the earlier you talk to your kids about healthy relationships, the better.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides basic information for parents to talk to their kids about healthy relationships.
- The Healthy Teen Network provides fact sheets and resources related to adolescent violence, dating, and more.
- YouTube has a site devoted to raising awareness about abusive teen relationships.
For teens:
- TeensHealth from Nemours has lots of articles about relationships directed to teens, including discussions about unhealthy relationships, date rape, how to break up respectfully, and more.
- www.teenrelationships.org is a website for young people to support healthy teen relationships. The website includes a quiz and forums for teens to ask questions about relationships.
- The Relationship Matters website provides information about relationships for all ages, including what to look for a boy- or girlfriend, how to recognize if your relationship is healthy, statistics about teen relationships, and much more.
- That’s Not Cool.com is a website where kids can talk about a wide variety of topics, including relationships.
SCC Healthy Relationships Packets:
Starting a Healthy Relationship
