WINTON – Healthy dating relationships and respect were the topics of discussion at C.S. Brown High School STEM on Wednesday morning. Blannie Hunt, the Community Outreach Coordinator for Roanoke Chowan S.A.F.E., facilitated the discussion with students as part of ongoing focus on Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

“Enjoy your teenage years. These are your best years,” said Hunt to the group of young women ranging from ninth through twelfth grade. “Today we’re going to talk about what teenagers should know about healthy dating relationships.”

The discussion spanned topics such as dealing with cheating, avoiding fights, staying strong against peer pressure, and learning to respect oneself.

“I’ve seen so many teenage girls in court fighting over a boy. They got a record for it,” Hunt explained, reminding the students there are consequences to their actions.

“It’s not worth it,” was a phrase that came up multiple times from both Hunt and the students during the discussion. They often spoke about the importance of not wasting time in a relationship where they weren’t treated with respect.

One student contributed to the lively discussion by saying, “you should value yourself” while another shared a quote she’d seen which said “if you can’t even respect me as my friend, how can you respect me while being my boyfriend?”

Another topic tackled the issue of being pressured to have sex, one of the things that can happen in an unhealthy relationship.

“You’re old enough to control yourself,” Hunt said, cautioning the students to make their own decisions and not be influenced by friends or boyfriends.

On a similar topic, the group also discussed the idea that simply waiting to date is okay too.

“If you’re not ready for a relationship, don’t get into a relationship,” one student said, offering her point of view on the subject, with the other students agreeing that good relationships require a lot of time and commitment.

One of the most important points of the whole discussion was an emphasis on self-esteem and positivity, two things necessary in order to form healthy bonds with other people.

Teresa Watford, the school’s counselor, offered advice on raising self-esteem, saying “you cannot let society or the television define how you look or whether you’re beautiful or not.”

“You’ll get over it,” said Hunt about ending a bad relationship, “and then you’ll find someone that’s going to love you and treat you like you should be treated. But if you hang in there, it’ll pull down your self-esteem, it’ll pull down your grades. It will take a lot from you, take away the good part of your teenage years, and there is no guy that is worth that.”

“You’ve got to love yourself before you really can love other people,” Hunt continued.

In the end, Hunt summed up the two most important points to having a healthy relationship with anyone: respecting yourself and respecting the other person.

After the hour-long discussion concluded, the students had a chance to pick up written material covering healthy dating relationship tips. Hunt will return to the school at a later date to address young men on the same topic.