From: ibshambat@gmail.com   
      
   One argument that is used to discourage young people from having relationships   
   is that they don’t have relationship skills.   
      
   That is true. In many cases they don’t. I ask this, “How does one learn   
   relationship skills?”   
      
   When I suggested that such things be taught in school, someone said that I was   
   a loonie. In absence of formal education in the matter, the only way for   
   people to learn relationship skills is by being in a relationship. Sometimes   
   friendship can help teach    
   the same skills; sometimes having siblings can teach the same skills. But   
   there are things that happen in relationships that don’t happen in such   
   situations, and the only existing way to learn them is by experience.   
      
   So of course we don’t want parents seeing their kids get hurt in   
   relationships with one another. I am a parent myself, and I don’t want such   
   a thing for my daughter. But care must be taken to differentiate legitimate   
   protection from being suffocating.   
    Many parents want to protect their kids from themselves, and that can deny   
   them growth opportunities.   
      
   What then is the right way to learn relationship skills? I have seen some   
   useful thought on this matter in psychology; however psychologists themselves   
   are not always right. Like anything human these people are capable of all   
   sorts of foibles. Many do    
   wrong without realizing they are doing wrong.   
      
   I want to see relationship skills taught in schools. It is inevitable that   
   people will have relationships, and people need to be equipped with skills   
   toward that effect. Many people don’t have relationship skills, and it works   
   badly against them. In    
   most cases what they’ve learned from observing their parents is wrong, and   
   they need a better perspective on the matter.   
      
   I therefore advocate that relationship skills be taught in schools.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)