February is Teen Healthy Relationships Month

We encourage every local PTSA to participate and encourage healthy loving relationships, based on mutual respect, communication, honesty, trust and equality.   Building healthy and respectful relationships is how we will prevent dating violence.

Several resources are available throughout the state to help share this message with students. We encourage you to reach out to some of these and other resources you are familiar with to help drive positive messages during the month most associated with love. 

We encourage your team to work with school counselors and local and state organizations for additional ideas and resources. Healthy Relationships Utah also provides teen specific curriculum called "Love Notes for Teens," along with a monthly newsletter and social media posts.

You can make this as big or as little as you like. Whatever you do, we also encourage you to take pictures, invite the media to your events and share the message with your community so that they can learn more about the efforts you are championing. We would also love to hear about what happened at your events. Please send photos, stories, etc. about how your school celebrated Healthy Relationships Month to the State Student Leadership Commissioner.

10 Ways to Have a Healthy Dating Relationship

Healthy relationships take practice! Here are some tips for building not only healthy dating
relationships, but friendships with peers, family, and coworkers.

  1. COMMUNICATE  Be willing to have open and honest dialogue and freely communicate emotions, problems, desires, expectations, etc. to one another.
  2. PROBLEM SOLVE  Find solutions to problems where both people feel happy and satisfied. Compromise so each person is happy with the decision.
  3. SHARE POWER  Take mutual responsibility and have equal influence on the relationship. Make decisions together.
  4. USE NON-THREATENING BEHAVIOR  Talk and act so that expressing feelings is comfortable. Act in a way that creates a safe feeling and environment.
  5. TRUST AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER  Support each other’s goals in life. Respect each other’s right to their own feelings, friends, activities and opinions.
  6. BE HONEST AND ACCOUNTABLE  Accept responsibility for oneself. Acknowledge past use of violence. Admit being wrong. Communicate openly and truthfully.
  7. ENCOURAGE PERSONAL GROWTH  Encourage individual growth and freedom. Support each other’s goals in life.
  8. NEGOTIATE AND BE FAIR  Have an argument that ends with a compromise with which both people are happy and satisfied.
  9. BE SELF-CONFIDENT  Respect each other’s personal identity. Support each other’s self-worth.
  10. GIVE AND EXPECT RESPECT  Listen without expressing judgment. Be emotionally affirming and understanding. Value the opinions of others. Have a balance of giving and receiving.

Resources

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