DID YOU KNOW that when kids have Healthy Communication, it builds trust and confidence? Through empathy, active listening, and age-appropriate language, kids create tools to be good communicators. Everyone benefits when our community can use positive, clear, healthy communication. We also know that kids who have coping skills and good social and emotional health can communicate clearly. When kids understand and are able to identify their feelings and emotions, they can communicate better about what they need to support them. 

DID YOU KNOW only 58.5 percent of teens in the U.S. receive the social and emotional support they need? Teens lacking in support and skills report higher anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and low life satisfaction. One way the Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids (TASK) supports this is through funding the Social Emotional Learning program, Soul Shoppe, at all the LTUSD elementary schools this school year. As kids learn positive coping skills, like how to identify feelings and emotions, and resolve conflict, they are also learning positive ways to communicate. Clear communication helps kids identify and ask for the help they need to get through a conflict. Building Social and emotional & communication skills then supports creating healthy habits for long-term benefits both academically and socially. This is why TASK works with partnering organizations and kids in our community to create healthy habits and build social-emotional skills that set kids up for healthy relationships, with communication being a big part of that. 

DID YOU KNOW February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness month? When it comes to healthy relationships, one of our partners is Vista Rise Collective. They are a local non-profit committed to promoting a violence-free community through education and advocacy to address domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. They empower survivors and our community to interrupt the cycles of violence through compassionate, expert-led, and accessible services to cultivate safety, healing, and pathways to thriving futures in South Lake Tahoe and Alpine County. Check out their website and all the great work they do in our community: https://vistarise.org/ 

DO YOU KNOW the signs of a HEALTHY relationship? Healthy relationships bring out the best in you and make you feel good about yourself. A healthy relationship does not mean a “perfect” relationship 100 percent of the time. Healthy relationships start with healthy communication and loving yourself first. While everyone does unhealthy things sometimes, we can focus on what helps to build healthy relationships and what that looks like. It’s important not to ignore your gut when things don’t feel right because they can be unhealthy behaviors and unhealthy behaviors can escalate to abuse. Here is a great starting place from www.joinonelove.org to talk with your kids about the 10 signs of a healthy relationship and help them to identify behaviors that do not look like these:

  1. Comfortable Pace – The relationship moves at a speed that feels enjoyable for each person.
  2. Honesty – You can be truthful and candid without fearing how the other person will respond. 
  3. Respect – You value one another’s beliefs and opinions, and love one another for who you are as a person. 
  4. Kindness – You are caring and empathetic to one another, and provide comfort and support.
  5. Healthy Conflict – Openly and respectfully discussing issues and confronting disagreements non-judgmentally. 
  6. Trust – Confidence that your partner won’t do anything to hurt you or ruin the relationship.
  7. Independence – You have space to be yourself outside of the relationship. 
  8. Equality- The relationship feels balanced, and everyone puts the same effort into the success of the relationship. 
  9. Taking Responsibility – Owning your own actions and words.
  10. Fun -You enjoy spending time together and bring out the best in each other.

For more information about TASK, visit https://tahoesafekids.org/.