Parents & Caregivers
Parents and caregivers play a critical role in preventing and responding to dating violence. Parents and caregivers can model and instill values that promote healthy dating relationships as well as observe signs of dating abuse or perpetration, and seek appropriate help for their children. The documents included in this section provide information to parents and caregivers on helping their children build healthy relationships, identifying if their children are experiencing or perpetrating dating abuse, initiating conversations about dating violence with their children, helping their children navigate dangerous relationships, and learning more about the dynamics of TDV.
The RESPECT! Campaign promotes healthy relationships through positive role modeling and respect education. The RESPECT! Challenge Action Toolkit offers resources and tools for parents, including tips for talking to youth about respectful relationships, guidelines on how to navigate their digital dating world, and information on modeling respect at home.
Hosted by Break the Cycle’s Love Is Not Abuse Coalition, It’s Time To Talk Day is an annual awareness day that aims to generate conversations about healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence and abuse. Download the guide to start planning your It’s Time To Talk Day event for Teen DV Month!
START TALKING: QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER
This handout offers answers to challenging questions that youth often ask when learning about dating violence.
A PARENT’S HANDBOOK: HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT DEVELOPING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
Designed for parents of pre-teens, this booklet was developed as a tool to help parents lay the foundation for healthy decision-making patterns and relationships. Includes tips for “starting the dialogue,” interactive quiz, and additional resources.
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS PROTECT TEENS: A PARENT’S HANDBOOK
Pre-teens and young teens who learn to develop healthy relationship skills are more likely to have healthy relationships throughout their lives. As a parent, you should provide reliable and accurate information to your 11-to-14-year-old about healthy relationships: what a healthy relationship feels like, looks like, and sounds like.
NAVIGATING TEEN DATING RELATIONSHIPS: A PARENT’S HANDBOOK
This handbook emphasizes the importance of talking to your teen about dating relationships. It provides guidance to parents of high school children on how to help teens form healthy relationships and how to protect them from the pressures to engage in risk behaviors.
A PARENT’S GUIDE TO TEEN DATING VIOLENCE: 10 QUESTIONS TO START THE CONVERSATION
This guide provides suggestions to parents and guardians on how they can initiate a conversation with their teens about dating, dating violence, and healthy relationships.
TALK ABOUT IT…TIPS FOR ADULTS TALKING TO YOUTH ABOUT CONSENT
This handout offers tips for adults on how to talk to youth about sexual consent.
WHOSE KIDS? OUR KIDS! TEENS, SEX, AND SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION
This document highlights the importance of parental monitoring to protect their children from become victims of sexual abuse. It provides guidance to parents to effectively monitor their children’s activities, whereabouts, and companions without being overly intrusive.
Parents are in a critical position to help their children develop healthy relationships and to provide life saving support if their children are in an abusive relationship. This handout offers helpful tips about what parents need to know and how they can be of help.
START RELATING BEFORE THEY START DATING: A WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS, AND THEIR TEENS
This is workshop targeting parents and youth in middle school where youth and parents learn about dating abuse and strategies for improving parent/caregiver-youth communication.
MOVING FROM A RELATIONSHIP BYSTANDER TO A RELATIONSHIP UPSTANDER WORKSHOP GUIDE
The goal of this workshop is to help parents and caregivers encourage youth to respond to dating violence and promote non-violent relationships among their peers.
DATING ABUSE: TOOLS FOR TALKING TO TEENS
“Dating Abuse: Tools for Talking to Teens” explains the dynamics of teen dating abuse and provides usable strategies for all adults to have realistic and successful conversations with young people. The program and materials are offered free of charge.
TALKING TO YOUR CHILD ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY
“Overall, exposure to pornography creates unrealistic expectations of sexual activity for both men and women. As a parent, it’s important to have an open and honest discussion about pornography.” This page offers some strategies for approaching the subject.
For more information or access to the links above, please visit: https://vawnet.org/sc/parents-caregivers
HAVEN Advocates are here to help!
