Healthy Relationships

Whether it is at school, home or out in the community, our relationships can provide us a sense of belonging and connection that promotes positive mental health.  However, healthy relationships require work, and our teenage years are an important time to build the strategies that we need to navigate tough times in our relationships or identify red flags in unhealthy relationships. 

At Wagga Wagga High School, learning about healthy relationships is embedded in our PDHPE curriculum across all year levels.  We also fund The Resilience Project for our students which focuses on building skills of empathy and resilience that are integral to forming and maintaining healthy relationships.

What if we disagree or have an argument?

It is completely normal to sometimes have disagreements and arguments in a healthy relationship.  When this happens, we need to decide if we want to continue with the friendship or go our separate ways.  Friendships end all the time, simply because two people have grown apart.  It is ok to decide that you don’t want to continue a friendship, even if it was once “good.” 

If you want to continue your friendship:

• Talk to your friend or trusted adult about the issue, don’t involve other friends.  While it may feel good to vent to other people, often this causes further drama and misunderstandings, rather than finding a solution. 

• Compromising can be a healthy way to reach a decision, with both people giving up something they wanted to meet each other halfway. 

• Apologising is hard because we don’t like to feel bad about ourselves but, if a relationship is important to us, we need to say “sorry” if we’ve made a mistake – How to say “sorry” and mean it

If you want to go your separate ways:

• Talk to a trusted adult.  While it feels good to vent to a friend, often this causes further drama and escalates any issues.

• Find information about leaving a relationship respectfully and limiting the drama, here.

• If the relationship has become toxic, you may need to take a different approach and you can find some information here. 

What if we just don’t get along?

In life, we will sometimes be required to work with someone with whom we don’t have a good relationship and it is important to build skills that allow us to continue to work effectively to meet our goals.  The first step is to understand that we don’t always have to like, or agree, with someone to be able to work effectively and respectfully with them.  Information about putting personal boundaries in place and improving communication skills, can be found here.

How can parents and carers help?

Parents and carers can foster strong friendships and problem-solving skills in their children by encouraging open communication, teaching empathy, and promoting conflict resolution strategies. Building self-confidence, setting boundaries, and modelling positive social behaviours also play a crucial role in helping students develop healthy relationships and navigate peer difficulties effectively.  Encouraging your teenager to participate in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities can broaden their friendship circle.  This enables them to strengthen their skills in building friendships in different contexts, while also providing them with other options if a particular friendship ends.

What if it's bullying?

At Wagga Wagga High School, we are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all students. Guided by the NSW Department of Education’s Anti-Bullying Policy, our Anti-Bullying Procedures aim to prevent, address, and effectively respond to bullying. We prioritise early intervention, clear communication, and restorative practices to support students in understanding the impact of their actions while promoting positive relationships. Our approach includes education on respectful behaviour, accessible reporting mechanisms, and a commitment to working collaboratively with students, families, and staff to ensure every student feels valued and secure. Together, we strive to maintain a culture of kindness, courage, and connectedness.  

• WWHS Anti-bullying Procedures

• WWHS Bullying - No way! Incident Report Form

TLDR:

Healthy relationships take work, and our teenage years are an important time for building the skills and strategies that we will need to navigate them.  Always talk to a trusted adult if you need support with friendships, conflict or bullying behaviour.  

Raising Children: The Australian Parenting – Teens: Communicating and relationships

ReachOut – Friendship resources for teenagers

ReachOut – Friendship resources for parents and carers

Headspace – Create connections for a healthy headspace

Headspace – Communicating clearly for building and maintaining relationships

WWHS Anti-bullying Procedures

WWHS Bullying - No way! Incident Report Form