Being in a new romantic relationship can feel exciting, overwhelming, scary and fun, all rolled into one.
But in all the excitement, don’t forget that you and your girlfriend or boyfriend should treat each other with respect.
Remember these things…
Communication
Even though they’re really into you, they’re not mind-readers. Don’t assume that your boyfriend or girlfriend knows what you’re feeling or thinking. Talk openly and often together about your relationship, sex, things that make you laugh and new experiences.
Consent
Anything that happens in a relationship must happen with the agreement of both of you. This includes things like having sex, discussing private matters with others, and major decisions that affect each other.
Respect
Take care to respect each other’s feelings and choices. If you truly care about each other, you’ll want each other to be happy and you’ll support each other to make the right choices.
Dealing with jealousy
Jealousy is a normal emotion that lots of people experience in romantic relationships, but it can get out of control.
Sometimes it can create barriers between people, and cause one partner to be hurtful, abusive or angry towards the other.
If you or your partner are feeling jealous, it could be to do with all sorts of other things, like a fear of feeling left out or not feeling good enough.
Talk to each other, but if things are getting out of hand, get help from someone you trust.
Sex and sexual orientation
Not all teenagers have sex, but most teenagers experiment with some sort of sexual behaviour at some stage.
You need to make sure that you’ve checked out all the info on safe sex, consent, contraception and sexually transmitted infections.
It’s important to understand your sexual orientation too – some teenagers begin to feel attracted to members of the same sex or more than one sex. Everyone is different.
Don’t be scared to chat to your foster carer about all this stuff – they want to help keep you safe and happy!
Sexual consent is when you agree to be involved in something sexual like kissing, touching or sex. Nobody has the right to do something sexual with you without your full consent.
Saying yes doesn’t always mean that you’ve given consent, especially if you’re worried about what will happen if you don’t agree. If you’ve been drinking or taking drugs it can affect your judgement, which means that you can’t give consent either.
The age of consent is 16. This means that it’s illegal for anyone to have sex with someone who is under 16.
