BUILDING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

PPL 2O Lesson 1

RELATIONSHIP

• We form relationships as we are born (parents, siblings, family)

• As we move outside the home friends, teachers and neighbors become important

• As we get older new relationships (teacher-student, employer-employee) are formed

BENEFITS OF RELATIONSHIPS

• Love• Companionship• Safety• Shared interests• Affection

• Sharing hopes and dreams

• Someone is there for you

• Shared culture or religion

• Someone to have fun with

Relationships…

• Involve a connection between people

• We come into contact with many people but few will be relationships

• Some people have many, some prefer few

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP

• Happiness• Trust• Love• Affection• Equality• Mutual Respect• Friendship• Humour / Fun• Can be yourself• No fear of other• Still independent people

• Laughter• Common Interests• Support• Fair fights• Acceptance• Comfort• Kindness• Strong self-esteem• Good communication• Honesty

UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP

• No trust• No respect• Jealousy• Abuse – emotional,

physical, sexual• Bad/no

communication• Low self-esteem• Power issues

• Unfair fights• Other person tries to

change you• Lies• Manipulation• Lack of understanding• No fun• Fear

Discussion Questions???

• How do you feel in a healthy relationship?

• How do you feel in an unhealthy relationship?

• Why do some people stay in unhealthy relationships?

Relationship Role Play

• This will allow students to practice skills for building, maintaining and enhancing positive, healthy relationships.

• Get into your 4 groups again and get a role play card

• Role-play should provide appropriate example of negotiating in relationships

• 1-3 min…no harsh language!!

Role Play Questions

• What skills were used to deal with the relationship?

• What level of commitment is involved in this relationship?

• Can you suggest other ways the characters may have handled this situation?

• What were you thinking/feeling as you watched this role play?

COPY AND COMPLETE..

• 1. Why can dealing with friends, family and the people we work with sometimes be so difficult?

• 2. What are the most effective ways to start talking about a difficult topic?

• 3. What skills and elements were used to maintain these relationships?

• 4. Can you suggest other ways the characters may have handled these situations? Positive or negative…..

BUILDING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

PPL 20

Day 2

GROUP WORK

• In 4 groups write one assigned question on your chart paper and answer in a group:

• 1. Define the term “dating relationship”.• 2. Do you think there is a pressure to date? If so,

where does it come from?• 3. Do you think that males and females have

similar expectations about dating?• 4. How do we know what factors influence the

qualities we look for in a partner?

What do we look for in a partner?

SAFE DATING

• Dating should be fun and provide you with an opportunity to get to know the other person. It is important to share decisions around where you will go and what you might do on a date. If it is your first time out together you may want to go out with another couple or in a group.

Safe Dating cont’d

• Be aware of the effects of substance use and the risk of sexual activity as a result

• Know your limits around sexual activity. Being clear about your limits makes it easier to express them to a date and stick to them.

• Be honest with your date and use assertive communication. If you no longer want to date that person explain why clearly and simply.

BUILD A RELATIONSHIP

• Activity

• Give each person a card and use the gym to have everyone line up in an order they think is the best way to build a relationship

RIGHT / WRONG

• There is no right way for a relationship to develop – everyone is different

• Not everyone will agree with the order

• **It is most important that the people in the relationship are happy with the speed the relationship is progressing

QUESTIONS

• What about gender stereotypes? IF this activity was done with males and then females – would the progression be the same?

• Have we built a “real” relationship or an “ideal” one/

• Do most teen relationships look like this?• Is there a “point of no return”?• How long does each step take?• Are the birth control cards in the right place?

MATURE vs IMMATURE LOVE

• Often people feel that they are in love, but sometimes it turns out to be infatuation rather than “mature love”

• Immature love may involve one person “taking” more that “giving”; jealousy; one person calling the shots, broken promises and possibly violence

• Listen to and take your feelings and ideas seriously• Talk openly and honestly with you about what matters to them• Never use threats of harm, violence or suicide to get their own way• Never hit, punch, bite, slap, push or otherwise strike out in anger or

jealousy• Not try to control what you do, where you go or who you talk to • Respect you, and say good things to you and about you• Enjoy spending time with you• Trust you and earn your trust by keeping confidences• Allow you to enjoy the activities and people that matter to you• Accepts your limits about sexual activity, every time• Have a sense of humor• Communicate positively with each other

UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

• Problems may begin to arise in relationships

• They may start out as “innocent” issues and can eventually lead to abuse and violence

• Many teens settle for unhealthy relationships and find it difficult to communicate their concerns to their partners

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT FOR SOMEONE TO

ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE IN AN UNHEALTHY

RELATIONSHIP?

UNHEALTHY REL’N

• The expression “love is blind” is often true

• Someone may feel that they are so in love that they do not look deeply at the problems and stay in the relationships for the following reasons:

Reasons People Stay

• Belief things will get better• Problems are just a phase• They can change their partner• Seen this behavior elsewhere• Don’t know this is unhealthy• Having a partner is more

important• Scared to break it off (can’t

cope without the other or the other may be violent)

BUILDING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

LESSON PLANS: PPL 20

DAY 3

Relationship Violence

• …is the emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse of one partner by another in a dating relationship where the couple is not living together

Forms of Abuse

Physical Abuse• The intentional use of any

action that could cause pain or injury. Shoving, pushing, slapping, kicking, biting, punching, pinching, hair-pulling, throwing things, threatening to cause harm with a weapon.

Emotional Abuse• Affects our feelings and

includes name-calling, insulting, blaming, humiliating, swearing or yelling, being disrespectful, causing embarrassment, being explosive, extreme mood swings, manipulating, being possessive, isolation

Forms of Abuse

Psychological Abuse• Throwing or breaking

things, destroying possessions, threatening to cause personal harm to friends, family or pets, threatening to commit suicide to get their way, threatening gestures or facial expressions, stalking, contact by phone etc that causes fear or discomfort, guilt tripping, mind games

Sexual Abuse• Unwanted sexual

touching, sexual acts without consent, making fun for not wanting to do certain sexual things, unsafe sexual practices, forcing a person into degrading, humiliating or painful sexual acts, making rude comments or gestures

How Common?

• Can be either partner…

• Most studies report people ages 15-24 have highest risk of dating violence…

• Females in their teens experience dating violence at a higher rate than males

Warning Signs

A person who is experiencing an abusive situation may show the following signs of changes of behavior

• Mood or personality changes• Physical injuries like bruises, sores, scratches or broken

bones (especially if injuries don’t match the story they tell you)

• Sudden changes in clothes or makeup• Failing grades or dropping out of school activities• Emotional outbursts or over-reacting to things that seem

small or unimportant

Warning Signs

• Withdrawing from family and friends• Difficulty making decisions• Sudden changes in mood or personality (ex:

becoming anxious or depressed, acting out and being secretive)

• Changes in eating or sleeping habits, avoiding eye contact

• Constantly thinking about their dating partner• Using alcohol or drugs or increased use of drugs

or alcohol

Warning Signs Someone is Abusive and Could be Violent

• S/He pressures to make the relationship very serious or to have sex

• S/He becomes extremely jealous and possessive and thinks these destructive displays of emotion are signs of love

• S/He is controlling and bossy (ie: makes all the decisions, does not take your opinion seriously,or uses put-downs when alone or with friends)

• S/He uses guilt trips (ie: if you really loved me you would…)

Warning Signs Someone is Abusive and Could be Violent

• Blames you for relationship problems (ie: its because of you I get so mad)

• S/He may apologize for violent behaviors promising never to act violent again and to change

• S/He keeps you from spending time with close friends or family

• S/He is verbally and emotionally abusive

Why might teens not tell…

• Embarrassed, ashamed, stupid, worthless

• Alone and afraid of getting hurt

• Convinced it’s their fault

• Scared of getting in trouble

• Parents or friends will blame them or will be disappointed

• Confused- they may think this is how people show love

POWER IMBALANCES

• Whenever there is an imbalance of power, there is potential for misuse of that power.

• POWERFUL LESS POWERFUL• Adult children• Men women• Rich poor• White people of color• Boss worker• Able-bodied disablities• Formally educated non-formally educated• Born in Canada immigrant