A safety plan that is personalized by your teen will help him or her know how to avoid dangerous situations and/ or what to do if he or she is faced with a dangerous situation.
Interactive Guide to Safety Planning
Interactive Guide to Safety Planning
Safety Planning Tips for Parents
- Listen, be supportive, and non judgmental.
- Connect them with resources.
- Don't post location or information about your teen on social media sites. His or her partner might use this to locate your teen.
- Allow your teen to make up his or her own mind about leaving the relationship. An abusive relationship is often hard and dangerous to leave. If you force your teen to leave an abusive relationship he or she might sneak behind your back and still see the abuser. It can also compromise parent-teen communication in the future because your teen will feel that he or she can no longer trust you with personal information.
- Avoid blaming or criticizing your teen. His or her self-esteem has already been trampled on by his or her partner.
- Don't give up on your teen. It may be frustrating when he or she doesn't take your advice, but now is the time he or she needs you the most.