#KEEPTALKING SERIES, VIDEO 5
LifeSmart Youth Council #KeepTalking Series Calls Parents and Trusted Adults Into the Mix
The fifth video of our #KeepTalking Series discusses the important and shocking statistic that 81% of parents do not believe or do not know that teen dating violence is an issue. Young people know why that statistic is true. Watch the video to find out their understanding of how parents relate to young people and their challenges.
Week 5: Where Do Trusted Adults Come In?
Building an environment and relationship of trust can help young people and their trusted adults communicate more openly about healthy relationships. Below are some tips adults can use to help open that communication:
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Believe in youth. This can have a big impact on youth, who are used to adults excusing their behaviors or brushing them aside.
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Don’t minimize experiences. When a trusted adult minimizes an experience of a young person that trusts them, that can turn off youth from wanting to share their future experiences or ask for help.
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Be open for communication. Let youth know that you are there if they have questions or ever want to talk about things they might be experiencing.
The message in the video was clear. When young people go to adults with challenges, they feel minimized and brushed off. If adults want healthy relationships with the teens in their lives, they must see youth as people and believe them.
To learn more about how to support young people with regards to teen dating violence, visit the links below, and check out the other videos on the LifeSmart Youth YouTube Channel.
The hashtag #TDVAM stands for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, which takes places during the month of February.
Like and Share our videos in honor of #TDVAM. The videos can be found on our LifeSmart Youth Facebook page and our LifeSmart Youth YouTube page as they are released each week.