Throughout life making meaningful relationships with those around us is important for our health and wellbeing. Early relationships are a blueprint for how we will build healthy bonds with others in the future.
Hopefully the attachment we build with our primary carers provides a foundation enabling us to manage and build relationships with others as we grow and develop. This is known as attachment theory.
However for any number of reasons, and at different times, relationships will be tricky to navigate for us all. For some children and young people building healthy relationships will be a particular challenge. This may be because of their lived experience and / or because of their additional needs and vulnerabilities.
It is compulsory for all settings to provide relationship, sex and health education. This is in recognition of the positive influence this can have for children and young people.
In Professional Settings
Settings are well placed to model positive relationships. They can provide the space to think about how we make and maintain healthy relationships. Settings can also help pupils identify those relationships that are unhealthy, and how they can seek help.
All relationships should be built on trust, respect and good communication. Setting culture can encompass this by valuing kindness, inclusivity and taking responsibility for own actions. It can model positive relationships, and help children manage conflict in their friendship groups in a healthy way. Helping children and young people build self-esteem and resilience is important. When children and young people recognise their self worth they will be less vulnerable to controlling and abusive friendships and other relationships.
Healthy Relationships
Not all children will have the invaluable experience of being around healthy relationships.
Online Safety
There are additional complications for young people today. The dawn of smart phones and social media enables positive social connections. They also bring new risks and challenges like sexting, cyberbullying and contact by strangers. Young people need to be able to talk about these challenges openly so that they can understand risk that being online poses and know when to seek advice.
Intimate Relationships
As children grow they need increased information about how to keep safe in intimate relationships. Children and young people need to understand consent and how to be confident to say no at any time and share when they feel worried or uncomfortable.
Preparing young people to keep themselves safe both physically and emotionally as they embark on intimate relationships is an important role of those working with this group.
Settings need to be mindful of gender, culture and religious beliefs that may impact on how children and young people feel. They may need extra help to access advice and support on intimate relationships. If young people have competency they should be able to decide for themselves what information and advice is relevant to them.
Resources
Additional Resources
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4
E-Learning
'All Our Health' offer free, bite-sized e-learning sessions - to improve the knowledge, confidence and skills of health and care professionals in preventing illness, protecting health and promoting wellbeing. The sessions cover some of the biggest issues in public health including;
They contain signposting to trusted sources of helpful evidence, guidance and support to help professionals embed prevention in their everyday practice.
