Parent and Caregiver Education
Encouraging open conversations between teens and their parents
Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in dating violence prevention.
Many people assume teens don’t want to talk to their parents about dating, but that’s not what teens tell us. What we hear again and again is that they want these conversations. What holds them back is feeling judged, dismissed, or misunderstood when they try.
Talking to your teen about dating
What our teens request is actually simple: they want parents who listen with empathy, curiosity, and without judgment.
At the same time, many parents admit they aren’t sure how to start, or sustain, these conversations. Some worry their teens are too young to date; others are driven by fear, focusing on what could go wrong rather than what a healthy relationship looks like.
Through Take Back the Halls, we worked to bridge this gap by supporting parents and caregivers with practical tools: interactive information tables, parent workshops, Dating Conversations Cards and a student-created bilingual Parent Guide designed to spark open, meaningful conversations about healthy dating relationships.
