Nearly half of all women and men have experienced psychological aggression by a romantic partner in their lifetime and 12 million women and men become victims of physical abuse, rape, or stalking by a romantic partner each year. Many relationships start out healthy, with micro-aggressions or problems that don’t seem significant at first. However, these warning signs can quickly turn into significant levels of abuse, leaving the victim unsure how to get out.
Every couple can benefit from reviewing their relationship and taking steps to make sure that it is healthy. Check out these eight healthy relationship resources for teens and young adults who are dating or who are planning to enter the dating field.
Family Resources’ Healthy Relationship Resources
Family Resources has multiple healthy relationship courses for teens and young adults who want to enter into a healthy relationship. Our Relationship Smarts course for teens and Love Notes workshop for teens and young adults helps people learn how to set boundaries, communicate feelings, and resolve conflict in a healthy manner. Our Money Habitudes class helps participants realize the role money plays in a relationship and gives young couples the tools to talk about problems related to money.
Our healthy relationship resources are free of charge and meant to help people learn about themselves and their partners in a safe and comfortable setting.
Break the Cycle
Break the Cycle was developed to end dating violence through educational programs and engaging content. This page is particularly valuable because of its LGBT content. It has several inclusivity tipsheets meant to help allies make members of the LGBT community more welcome in school, medical, and social service settings. Healthy relationship resources need to cover all types of relationships without leaving vulnerable demographics out.
Love is Respect
LoveisRespect.org (the National Dating Abuse Helpline) offers timeless resources for parents and teens who want to explore healthy relationships along with topical blog posts, opinion pieces, and events for youth across the country. They cover topics related to consent, setting boundaries, and healthy LGBTQ questions. There are also printable quizzes you can use if you are looking for resources for a church or community group.
GirlsHealth.Gov
GirlsHealth.gov was created in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is geared toward teen girls and covers a variety of topics related to health and bodies. Their healthy relationships section talks about teen dating and entering a relationship.
This website is in more than 15 languages so you can reach communities in your area that don’t speak English predominantly.
StayTeen.org
If you’re looking for a website that connects with teens and presents clear information that they need, turn to StayTeen.org. They provide information like birth control comparisons and offer relationship advice while encouraging teens to make sure they are dating the right person for the right reasons. One of their latest blog posts asked, “are you about to have sex for the wrong reasons?” with the goal of preventing teens from having sex before they’re ready.
Teens can even find local health centers near them through this site to get the services they need.
Dating Matters
Developed by the CDC, Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships is meant to prevent dating violence in teens and young adults. This is an evidence-based teen dating violence prevention model geared toward students age 11-14. They have toolkits for parents and teachers, publications on teen violence, and scientific proof backing their program.
The CDC also offers resources for other intimate partner violence outside of the teenage years.
Start Strong
Start Strong specifically targets the Middle School demographic. It shows how kids start dating during the Middle School ages and how that is a critical time to determine what your future relationships will be like. As they say on their website:
“If we act early to educate our young people and engage them in conversations about healthy relationships, rather than react to unhealthy ones later on, we stop teen dating violence before it starts.”
This program is similar to the CDC’s in age demographic but has additional resources and tools for teachers and parents.
The Department of Health and Human Services
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office on Women’s Health has a dedicated page for Relationships and Safety. It provides resources both for victims of physical and emotional abuse along with resources for friends and family members who want to help those they care most about.
The Office on Women’s Health has additional healthy relationship resources on its page to learn more if you can’t find what you are looking for.
The relationships teens form at a young age will set the tone for how they date throughout their lives. Share these resources so they can start off on the right foot.