Suggested Grade/Age Range: Grades 7-8

Activity Objective: The purpose of this activity is to explore different relationship scenarios that are healthy, unhealthy, and/or abusive and to recognize that the health of a relationship lies on a continuum.

Materials Required:

• ‘Healthy-Unhealthy-Abusive’ Relationships Chart
• Scenarios (3 or 4 for each small group of 3-4 individuals)
• Scenarios Answer Sheet (for facilitator to take up with the whole class) 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

• Print all needed materials
• Cut scenarios up so that each group of 4-5 people can have 2-3 scenarios to discuss; give them a mixture of healthy, unhealthy, and abusive scenarios

 Task Time: 50 minutes

Activity Description:

• 1.       Tell the class that today they will work in small groups to discuss about relationship scenarios that are healthy, unhealthy, or abusive
• Emphasize that the health of a relationship lies on a continuum. The categories of “healthy”, “unhealthy” and “abusive” are not black and white – a relationship can slide between these categories
• Emphasize that unhealthy relationships, even if they are not abusive, are not good for us and can potentially escalate to abuse
• It is important to observe for signs of a relationship becoming less healthy so that individuals can seek the support they need to help the relationship become healthier or to end the relationship

2.       Divide the class into groups of 4-5 people and hand each group a set of scenarios (mixed set of 2-3 scenarios that includes “healthy”, “unhealthy”, and “abusive” situations). Tell each group to go through and discuss each scenario and decide whether they think it is “healthy”, “unhealthy”, or “abusive” and to provide reasons for their choices. Make sure each group also has the ‘Healthy-Unhealthy-Abusive’ Relationships Chart to refer to

3.       Give the small groups about 15-20 minutes to discuss all their scenarios

4.       Reconvene as a whole class and have each small group present their scenarios and rationales for why they decided the situation was “healthy”, “unhealthy”, or “abusive”. Allow other individuals in the class to provide feedback as well. After each small group finishes their presentation and other individuals in the class have had a chance to participate, reveal the answer and refer back to the ‘Healthy-Unhealthy-Abusive’ Relationships Chart to take up the answer

5.       Acknowledge that there will be disagreement amongst individuals with whether a scenario qualifies as “healthy”, “unhealthy”, or “abusive” since the health of a relationship lies on a continuum and can change. Nevertheless, when we are in relationships with others, it is important that we always check in with our intuition or our gut feeling – Do we feel comfortable with what is happening? Do we feel safe? Do we feel seen and heard? How should we respond if we are feeling safe? How should we respond if we are not feeling safe?

Activity Extensions:

Have individuals write in their journals about why it is important to distinguish between healthy, unhealthy, and/or abusive relationships? What may be some of the obstacles they encounter in making these distinctions?

Additional Comments:

It is important to keep in mind that there may be individuals in the class who have been impacted by abuse. Encourage all students to respect each other’s feelings and experiences and review over class conduct around respectful discussions and confidentiality