It’s important to find friends and adults that we can trust so that we have someone to talk to when things aren’t going well for us. Someone who we know will always have our back and also celebrate with us when things go well.
If you have their consent! If it’s a first kiss and you are still getting to know the other person maybe take things slowly. There is no rule book on kissing but paying attention to how the other person responds (e.g. do they pull away and say, “Yuk!") Remind yourself that there are many, many people your age that haven’t kissed or gone out with someone before and for most people in your age group this relationship stuff is all new. It’s one of the ‘jobs’ of adolescence to learn how to relate to people in ways that are different from when you were little kids. And new things are always a bit scary. If you go out with someone or kiss someone that you are already really comfortable with, you’ll feel less self-conscious and may even be able to talk to them about how you’re feeling.
High school can be great, fun, awesome, awful, scary and boring – all in one day sometimes! Everyone at high school is going through a lot of changes, maybe some difficult times at home, struggling with juggling homework, dealing with a changing body and changing relationships... That’s a lot!
Everyone in grade 7 will be nervous – you are certainly not starting high school alone and there will be loads of people there to help if you need. Promise. High school can be tricky for some so remember to put yourselves into someone else’s shoes – have a think about how they might be feeling and if there is something that you could do that might make them feel a bit better.
We need to be careful here because this is almost a stereotype! Perhaps the boys you know play more video games than girls, but in some schools/ towns maybe girls play more video games than boys? We really don’t know.
