Parents are constantly teaching their children – be kind to others, pay attention to strangers, look both ways before crossing the street. The list goes on and on. One thing most parents don’t think to talk to their children about, though, is the importance of relationships. Talking about boy/ girl relationships is very important and something that most parents will talk to their children about, but there is more than meets the eye when it comes to relationships. Relationships start long before boyfriend/girlfriend relationships set in.
From the moment you are born, you start developing relationships. You start with your mother and father, and then you expand to relationships with your siblings, aunt, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. As you get older you venture out to more distant family members and even start making friends in daycare, preschool, and even more friends once you are school age. All of these relationships are extremely important and all work up to how to work through your first (of many) boyfriend/girlfriend relationships you may experience. For this reason, it is important for parents to teach their children how important all relationships are from a young age.
Relationships have many different areas that need to be taught to kids as they get older. Think of these topics as your children grow and mature:
- Kindness in relationships
- Boundaries in relationships
- Respect in relationships
- Communication in relationships
- Conflict and anger in relationships
- Honestly and loyalty in relationships
- Acceptance in relationships
All of these topics are important to know how to navigate relationships with friends and family. If kids know how to have respect, kindness, and honesty in a relationship with friends and family, this is what they will look for in relationships as they get older. If they know how to work through anger and conflicts with friends and family, they will know how to work through it without violence with their significant other. If they know what boundaries they want with friends and family, they will know what they deserve when it comes to boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. The same goes for any of the topics above. So, when we start teaching our children how to have good relationships with friends and family from a young age, we are setting them up to have safe and violent-free relationships when they get older – and when it may matter most.
If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence call The Safe Place at 1-888-554-2501, our local number at 501-354-1884, or our Perryville office at501-889-2030.
Leave a Reply