Our Teen Safe Dating Workshops provide teens with crucial information and tools for building healthy relationships. Sessions are held in October and February, with a special summertime series of in-person workshops that run weekly for four weeks, or virtually through Zoom/Google.
Details:
Here’s an expanded look at each workshop topic, including suggested activities:
1. Understanding Healthy Relationships
Content: Explore qualities like trust, respect, honesty, and equality.
Activities:
• Role-playing Scenarios: Teens act out examples of healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors.
• Group Brainstorm: List “must-haves” and “deal-breakers” in a healthy relationship.
2. Recognizing Red Flags
Content: Identifying warning signs of unhealthy or abusive relationships.
Activities:
• Red Flag/Green Flag Game: Present behaviors, and participants decide if they’re healthy (green) or unhealthy (red).
• Story Analysis: Break into groups to analyze fictional relationship stories and discuss red flags.
3. Effective Communication Skills
Content: Teach active listening, assertiveness, and conflict resolution.
Activities:
• Active Listening Exercise: Pair participants and have one share a story while the other practices active listening.
• Conflict Role-Play: Practice resolving minor disagreements respectfully.
4. Consent and Boundaries
Content: Educate on the importance of asking for and respecting consent in all situations.
Activities:
• Consent Scenarios: Discuss what consent looks like in various situations, such as dating or social settings.
• Personal Boundaries Map: Teens map out their personal boundaries and share strategies for communicating them.
5. Dating Safety Tips
Content: Provide tips for staying safe in dating situations, including using technology wisely.
Activities:
• Safety Planning Workshop: Develop personal safety plans for meeting new people or handling uncomfortable situations.
• Tech Safety Audit: Teach teens how to secure social media and dating apps against cyberstalking or harassment.
6. The Impact of Social Media on Relationships
Content: Discuss how online interactions influence dating dynamics.
Activities:
• Healthy vs. Unhealthy Online Behavior: Analyze social media posts or messages for signs of good or bad communication.
• Digital Boundaries Checklist: Teens create a checklist for what they feel is acceptable online behavior in relationships.
7. Building Self-Esteem and Resilience
Content: Empower teens to build confidence and cope with challenges.
Activities:
• Affirmation Journaling: Write daily affirmations and discuss how self-love impacts relationships.
• Resilience Role Play: Practice responding to common relationship disappointments, like breakups, in a healthy way.
8. Peer Pressure and Group Dynamics
Content: Equip teens to handle external pressures in dating.
Activities:
• Pressure Lines Game: Practice saying “no” to hypothetical peer-pressure scenarios.
• Discussion Circle: Share real-life stories of peer pressure and how to handle similar situations.
9. What to Do in a Crisis
Content: Learn what steps to take if you or a friend is in an abusive relationship.
Activities:
• Resource Scavenger Hunt: Locate local and online resources for relationship help.
• Survivor Story Sharing: Share age-appropriate survivor stories (real or fictional) and discuss support strategies.
10. The Role of Empathy in Relationships
Content: Teach the importance of understanding others’ feelings and perspectives.
Activities:
• Perspective Switch Activity: Teens describe a situation from both their and their partner’s perspectives.
• Empathy Circle: Group members share their feelings on various relationship challenges while others listen without judgment.