How to have a Healthy Relationship as a Teen

Love is a funny thing, especially when you're only a teenager. You could be having trouble staying in touch because of school or sports. Your family could be struggling with understanding why you want to spend more time talking on the phone with your girlfriend/boyfriend rather than spending it with them. If any of these situation apply to your current or past relationships, then I have some advice for you! Personally, as a High School teenager, I've been through it all; puppy love, long term crushes, long term relationships, long distance relationships, etc. What ever you relationship ale, I have the perfect solution for your problems***.

If you are having quarrels with your parents
Having a new person in your life can be great! It's an exhilarating time for the both of you, but if your parents are not used to you being romantically involved with someone, you have to understand their backgrounds and beliefs on dating.

1. Avoid putting down the other person's ideas and beliefs. If you've ever been on the receiving end of someones tirade or put-downs, you know how valuable using respectful language and behavior can be. So instead of saying what you might be thinking ("That's a stupid idea!"), try: "I don't agree, and here's why." Resist the temptation to yell, use sarcasm, or make derogatory comments and you'll have a much better chance of getting your point across.
2.  The "Daddy's Little Girl" mentality: So you're a teenage girl and you're wondering why your father is always giving your boyfriend the ugly eyeball whenever he comes over, right? Well he has reason for that, and here are a few theories
• He has a younger sister (your aunt) that had dealt with bad relationships and didn't want the next young lady in his life to go through the same.
• Your boyfriend may have a style about him that your father may not understand.
• Your father maybe doing you are favor and you may not know it by saying "LOOK AT HIM! HE'S A CREEP AND YOU DESERVE BETTER!"
• He's afraid that you might be growing up to fast and doesn't want you to lose your innocence.
3. The "Mommas Boy" mentality: Now the other side. You're a teenage boy and wondering why your mother starts to treat you like a baby whenever your girlfriend is around. Well you know that saying "mother knows best" ? Here are her reasons for thinking this way about the new girl in your life
• She's afraid that your girlfriend will take on some of her motherly roles (i.e making you lunch or breakfast in the morning and giving it to you at school).
• You're her little boy and she wants you to stay that way.
• She wants to make sure that the girl you're with treats you right and knows how to keep you in line (won't turn you into a wild child).

Now that you can understand your parents views a little better, it's time to understand your girlfriend/boyfriend's views. If you never want to have an argument with them and stay happy together, here is what you have to do:

1. Know how the other person feels: ask the person about simple things, like how their day is or what they plan to do in the future. When talking to them (if in person or video chat), make sure you listen carefully to what they are saying, not missing little details or body language that could mean something. You may not be a mind reader, but you can certainly tell if the person is lying or telling the truth about their feelings for you by looking at their body language and tone of voice.
2. Trust. You're talking with a guy from French class and your boyfriend walks by. Does he completely lose his cool or keep walking because he knows you'd never cheat on him? It's OK to get a little jealous sometimes — jealousy is a natural emotion. But how a person reacts when feeling jealous is what matters. There's no way you can have a healthy relationship if you don't trust each other.
3. Honesty. This one goes hand-in-hand with trust because it's tough to trust someone when one of you isn't being honest. Have you ever caught your girlfriend in a major lie? Like she told you that she had to work on Friday night but it turned out she was at the movies with her friends? The next time she says she has to work, you'll have a lot more trouble believing her and the trust will be on shaky ground.
4. Mutual respect. Does he or she get how cool you are and why? (Watch out if the answer to the first part is yes but only because you're acting like someone you're not!) The key is that your BF or GF is into you for who you are — for your great sense of humor, your love of reality TV, etc. Does your partner listen when you say you're not comfortable doing something and then back off right away? Respect in a relationship means that each person values who the other is and understands — and would never challenge — the other person's boundaries.

All in all, you deserve to be happy, and if you love the one that you're with, then it was meant to be.

Peace and love to all you little dreamers

DISCLAIMER
***this is not real psychological help, just research done by the author of this site for educational purposes. The statements made by the author are true, but should not be used to influence relationships that are in true need of counseling (i.e physical or emotionally abusive relationships). The bulk of the information has come from http://kidshealth.org/teen/ and may be used as a legitimate source for guidance.