A Relationship that Cares

Always seek to develop and maintain a good relationship with your child. Show and verbalize that you care about their everyday activities. When a good relationship is already in place, your child is more prone to discuss the hard topics with you. Make sure they know, no matter what they do you will always be there to listen and help them through things.

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Know the People they Spend Time With

Get to know everyone that your child interacts with and speak openly about them. 

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Discuss Healthy Relationships

Talk about the basic human needs of love and acceptance and the healthiest ways of meeting those needs. Discuss the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships. 

Teach them how to set relationship boundaries and have an accountability partner. 

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Develop Strong Self-Worth

Teach them their worth as an individual with a unique personality and set of gifts that can be utilized to benefit the world around them. Help them to realize this will always be true no matter what others may say or think. Discuss the danger of peer pressure.

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Use the News as a Teaching Tool

When stories of sexual violence are covered use them as a teaching tool. Ask them "How would you respond in that situation?" Use it as a review of what to do and not do in a situation.

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These discussions can be even more challenging as your children become teenagers but continue to be just as important.

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