Helping Teenagers “Love” Better
As February 14 and Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, many teenagers find themselves in an incredibly vulnerable position.
For those in a relationship, Valentine’s Day brings up questions: What present do you get? Where do you go for dinner? Is it time for the relationship to progress physically?
Those who are not in a relationship see Valentine’s as the day where they are painfully aware they are alone with no flowers, date or sappy Instagram post in the near future.
Relationships are difficult and awkward at any age, but especially for teenagers who still haven’t figured themselves out, much less how to navigate a relationship with another searching teenager. Unfortunately, the relationships many of our teenagers are learning from on social media, TV and movies are unhealthy, abusive, manipulative and obsessive.
How can we show our teenagers what real healthy relationships look like?
In a world with competing depictions of love, we have to intentionally talk about and show teenagers what healthy, loving, realistic relationships look like. This by no means implies that you must have the perfect relationship yourself (we are shooting for realistic, remember?), but it does require some transparency.