Spotlight on respectful relationship strategies

There are several strategies you can use to develop respectful relationships.

Briefly read through all the respectful relationships activities, then choose two that mean the most to you and work through the task.

Keep a record for yourself as you complete these activities - this will come in handy if you work on the optional final assignment.

Activities:

Reflect on your own healthy/unhealthy relationships
Appreciate others' perspectives by comparing viewpoints.
Respond to situations by being empathetic
Stand up to disrespect using the 'Upstander' approach

Note: For some of the strategies, you may need to go talk to others or look at other websites. Then you will return to this section to complete your responses.

Activity 1: Reflecting on your relationships

It is important to reflect on the types of relationships you have, how they make you feel, and what is working well or not so well, so that you can develop healthy and respectful relationships.

For this activity:

Think about one person you have a healthy/positive relationship with, and
Another person you've had a general unhealthy/negative relationship with.
Then answer the questions about how you feel in these relationships.
The final section looks at your cultural identity and how you interact with people from other cultures.

(This Form can also be opened in another tab if you prefer to see in full screen.)

Activity 2: Appreciating others' perspectives

Thinking about another person’s perspective on any topic or issue shows great personal leadership and can develop your tolerance, flexible and critical thinking, problem solving, and empathy.

Comparing viewpoints: How good are you at appreciating others’ perspectives?

Read through the list of topics: Strategy 2 - Appreciating Others’ Perspectives.docx
Choose one current topic to compare your perspective with others.
Record your responses in the document.

Activity 3: Being empathetic

When you empathise with someone, you show that you can relate to, feel and understand what another person is feeling or experiencing in a situation.

You can see their perspective and put yourself in their position, an important feature of developing respectful relationships.

Visit TED Ideas website: 3 simple ways to express empathy in your next conversation

Show the person you can see they’re struggling by asking a question like “Are you ok? You look worried about something. What’s happening?” Then listen to their answer without interrupting.
Ask them, “Can you help me understand your worry?” and let them talk.
Share an observation you have about the person and show that you are on their side and ready to support them.

Activity:

Read through the scenarios and responses.
Consider how you might respond - which response in the list is more empathetic?
Try it yourself - practice your empathetic response to a scenario.

(This Form can also be opened in another tab if you prefer to see in full screen.)

Activity 4: Standing up to disrespect

You may have been disrespectful or witnessed disrespect by others on the sporting field, at school or in other aspects of life.

1. Read: How to be an Upstander by ReachOut.

Disrespectful behaviour includes:

being rude, insulting or bullying,
gossiping or lying,
discriminating against someone based on age/race/sex etc
even being late all the time

You may witness disrespect to others such as racism, sexism, ageism or discrimination. You have options for how you respond to disrespectful behaviour.
Generally, if it is safe to do so, bystanders are encouraged to:

speak up and tell the perpetrator their behaviour is unacceptable.
support the victim by standing next to them and asking if they’re ok or need support;
gather evidence and report the situation to authorities.

2. Respond to your own experiences with disrespectful behaviour:

(This Form can also be opened in another tab if you prefer to see in full screen.)