Activity: Build Relationships by Demonstrating Respect for Others

Learn to understand, respect, and support others, especially members of the opposite gender.

Organize a group discussion to talk about how to build healthy, respectful relationships. Invite a variety of men and women to speak, including young single adults, newly married couples, older adults, or members of the bishopric or branch presidency.

Before the activity, invite youth to write down questions such as the following:

• How can I communicate effectively with others?
• How do you build successful relationships?
• What are some ways you have found to show respect for others, especially those of the opposite gender?
• How do we build positive relationships with those of the opposite gender while avoiding relationships that might become inappropriately physical or sexual?

Please adapt activities as necessary to ensure all individuals are able to participate, belong, and contribute.

• Separate the boys and girls into two different groups and invite them to ask questions to the other group instead of the panel. Encourage respectful discussion to help build understanding.
• Create a list of common questions your groups might have about building relationships. Examples might include questions about manners, how to overcome social fears, preferred styles of communication, or how to build understanding with people who have different experiences and backgrounds. Before the activity, ask individual group members each of the questions. During the activity, ask the questions to the group and see if they can guess the most common answers. Have a discussion about what youth think of the answers.

Encourage youth to talk about how what they are learning can help them and others grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Discussions can take place before, during, or after the activity and should last just a few minutes. You could ask questions like the following:

• What did you learn from others about building relationships?
• How can connecting with other people help you grow closer to the Savior?
• How do our relationships improve when we treat others with respect?

• “Dating,” For the Strength of Youth (booklet, 2011), 4–5

• Learning to Recognize and Follow the Spirit
• A Christlike Answer to Unkindness
• Random Acts of Kindness
• Live Chat