http://www.girlshealth.gov/

Parents & Caregivers

Home Parents & Caregivers Relationships

Relationships en Español

Helpful tools for your daughter

• Quiz: What makes a relationship healthy?
• Quiz: How much do you know about healthy relationships?
• Quiz: What does it take to stay safe in a relationship?
• Interactive tips for handling fights with sisters or brothers

Learning how to build healthy relationships is an important part of growing up. Talk to your daughter about the issues she may face in building relationships. Be a good role model for her. The resources in this section cover a range of topics, including healthy dating, building relationships in the community, helping your daughter deal with divorce or a move, and helping her find a mentor. Tools for your daughter include quizzes on safety and relationships and interactive tips for handling fights with sisters or brothers.

Featured articles

1. A Parent’s Guide to Surviving the Teen Years
2. Connecting with your Preteen
3. Communication and Your 13-18 Year Old
4. Community Service: A Family's Guide to Getting Involved
5. Helping Kids Cope with Cliques
6. Helping Your Child Through a Divorce
7. Preparing Your Child for a New Sibling
8. Sibling Rivalry
9. Tips for Divorcing Parents

Web sites

1. 4Parents.gov - Your children need you to guide them in making smart choices about their health and future. 4Parents.gov is a guide to help you and your pre-teen or mid teen discuss important, yet difficult, issues about healthy choices, abstinence, sex and relationships.
2. girlshealth.gov: Relationships - We have created the girlshealth.gov section on relationships to help adolescent girls learn more about some of the unique health issues and social situations they will encounter during the teen years. This section provides information, resources, and links to help your daughter learn more about relationships.
3. Can We Talk? - From the National Education Association Health Information Network, this program is designed to help parents talk with their children about healthy relationships and sexuality, including the prevention of pregnancy, HIV/STDs, drug abuse, and violence.
4. Talking with Kids About Tough Issues - This web site from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Children Now is aimed at fostering communication between parents/caregivers and children. The site covers topics ranging from sex to violence and from HIV/AIDS to drugs and alcohol.

Publications

1.   Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Difficult Peer Relationships - This fact sheet discusses how ADHD interferes with a child's development and a child’s relationship with peers.
   
   http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/conditions.html#peer
2.   Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen - This booklet provides information on the values and skills that make up character and good citizenship, and what you can do to help your child develop a strong character.
   
   http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/citizen/index.html
3.   A Parent's Guide to Teen Dating Violence: 10 Questions to Start the Conversation (Copyright © Liz Claiborne, Inc.) (PDF – 100KB) - This guide, from Liz Claiborne’s “Love is Not Abuse,” helps parents open the lines of communication about dating violence.
   
   http://loveisnotabuse.com/pdf/10questions_hand.pdf
4.   How to Talk to Your Children About Developing Healthy Relationships (Copyright © Liz Claiborne, Inc.) (PDF – 79KB) - This on-line handbook is part of “Love is Not Abuse,” a public awareness and educational campaign sponsored by Liz Claiborne, Inc.
   
   http://loveisnotabuse.com/pdf/handbook.pdf
5. Managing Conflict During Divorce (Copyright © American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy) - This article discusses ways to keep healthy relationships with children despite a divorce.
   
   http://www.aamft.org/families/Consumer_Updates/Managing%20Conflict%20During%20Divorce.asp
6.   Parent Power: What Parents Need to Know and Do to Help Prevent Teen Pregnancy (Copyright © National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy) (PDF – 374KB) - This publication provides parents with information on parental influence and offers parents practical things they can do to help their children delay sexual activity and avoid teen pregnancy.
   
   http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/ParentPowerEnglish.pdf
7. Parenting Corner Q&A: Friends (Copyright © American Academy of Pediatrics) - This fact sheet discusses how parents can help their children choose good friends to build healthy relationships.
   
   http://www.aap.org/publiced/BK5_Friends.htm
8. Preparing Your Kids for Dating (Copyright © National Fatherhood Initiative) - this web pages lists some important tips for parents about preparing their kids (and themselves!) for when their child starts dating.
   
   http://www.fatherhood.org/de020708.asp
9. Teen Dating Violence Fact Sheet (Copyright © National Center for Victims of Crime) - This fact sheet describes what dating violence is, the incidence of teen dating violence, its victims, dating violence and the law, and who can help.
   
   http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/AGP.Net/Components/documentViewer/Download.aspxnz%3FDocumentID%3D38057

Organizations

1.   Administration for Children and Families
   
   http://www.acf.hhs.gov/
2.   Office of Population Affairs, OPHS, OS, HHS
   
   http://www.hhs.gov/opa/
3. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
   
   http://www.aamft.org/index.asp
4. Children's Rights Council
   
   http://www.crckids.org/
5. KidsHealth
   
   http://kidshealth.org/
6. Points of Light Foundation
   
   http://pointsoflight.org/

= This article, publication, website, or organization is from the U.S. government.

= You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader® to view some of these files after you've downloaded them. If you have problems with PDF documents, please download the latest version of the Reader®.

Content last updated November 11, 2007

top