Welcome

Relationships are Treasures…

Like raw gold, relationships are life's treasures to uncover. In our homes, schools, neighborhoods, and places of work and worship they appear hidden in the least likely places. And once we discover them, the real work and adventure begin.

Relationships are made. They are built with deliberate minds, managed emotions, chosen behaviors, and positive attitudes.

Relationships signify something more than intimate emotional and physical connections. They are sources of light and correction, teaching and learning, bonding, and becoming who we are.

Brian C. Alston - Developer

The Relationship Literacy Program

Relationships are Treasures

Today, because violence affects people from all cultural, socio-economic, racial, and ethnic groups, many may consider it to be a normal—even inevitable--part of daily, contemporary existence. Despite its pervasive nature and harmful impact, violence can be avoided in human relationships, however. Violence is a learned behavior. This claim entails two equally important points of view: Violent behavior can be unlearned , and maintaining nonviolent, healthy relationships can be taught.

The Relationship Literacy Program has developed over ten years from mediating conflicts in inner-city communities and creating and facilitating anger management, violence prevention, and healthy relationship psycho-educational programs in schools, treatment facilities, and correctional institutions. In all of these different settings, participants found the Relationship Literacy Program comprehensive in scope, consistent with real life, culturally sensitive, and applicable to all types of relationships, whether family, peer, work, or some other.

The Relationship Literacy Program informs participants of diverse, often overlooked patterns of relationship abuse and violence and ways to prevent them. The program explores how to develop and sustain healthy human relationships while showing the connections between healthy relationships and personal and social development, abuse and violence prevention, and personal rights and responsibilities. The program teaches valuable self-management skills, both emotional and behavioral, and concepts, principles, and tools necessary to affect healthier relationships.

To prevent and treat interpersonal abuse and violence requires a comprehensive, socio-culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate approach. The Relationship Literacy Program takes such an approach to impact knowledge, attitude and motivation in interpersonal relationships.

First in the series The Relationships are Treasures curriculum uses concepts familiar to both adults and youth to teach the prevention of abuse and violence in relationships, important self-management skills, and tools and principles necessary to effect and maintain healthier relationships.

Because relationships are difficult to maintain whether with family members, peers, co-workers, bosses, and others The Relationship Literacy Program provides information for best practices for maintaining positive, abuse-free relationships.

To prevent and treat interpersonal abuse and violence requires a comprehensive, socio-culturally sensitive, and developmentally appropriate approach. The Relationship Literacy Program takes such an approach to impact greater knowledge, attitude, and motivation in interpersonal relationships.

The Relationships Literacy curriculum uses concepts familiar to both adults and youth to teach the prevention of abuse and violence in relationships, important self-management skills, and tools and principles necessary to affect healthier relationships. This curriculum booklet is designed for the middle school child grades 6-8.