Healthy Friendships
At least one out of every four teens is involved in a dating violence relationship by the time they leave high school. While middle school students may not yet be involved in dating relationships of their own, this program provides the opportunity to address the issues around the early development of relationships, trust, rapport, healthy communication, boundaries and conflict resolution skills.
Since 2015, The Shelter’s Healthy Friendships prevention program has provided middle school students with basic relationship values that assist them in developing healthy friendships and a healthy self-image during middle school, as well as ultimately changing the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of adolescent boys and girls in the effort to reduce future occurrences of bullying and dating violence.
Youth participating in the Healthy Friendships program are able to:
- Identify different types of bullying—including cyberbullying
- Understand the dynamics of toxic friendships
- Learn the signs of an unhealthy friendship
- Learn to set their own boundaries and expectations in friendships
- Learn how to increase their self-esteem and communicate in a healthy way
- Learn healthy problem solving and coping skills
The impact of these programs should not be underestimated. When youth are empowered, their broadened awareness will ultimately create positive change and a safer community. Past presentation venues include various middle schools in Collier County, including alternative school New Beginnings and numerous afterschool programs. Overall, The Shelter’s primary prevention efforts seek to reduce the likelihood that anyone will become a victim or a perpetrator by creating conditions that make violence less likely to ever occur.
The Shelter created this comprehensive presentation addressing a variety of topics, utilizing videos and group discussion, striving to accommodate the needs of as many local schools as possible.
For more information on this program, call 239-775-3862.
