February and Valentine’s Day usually represent a time of love and everything associated with love. Romance, flowers, jewelry, fine food, and chocolates – these are all good!

For your teen, however, this could be a time of feeling isolated, unloved, alone, and just not wanted. Think about it. Your spouse and you are planning something romantic, and you are even expecting this. 

However, if your teen is not in a relationship and they are already feeling isolated, February 14th could be a day of even more loneliness. Should you cancel your plans with your spouse? Probably not, but you definitely need to address this with your teen.  

Valentine’s Day Can Bring the Family Together

Dinner during the first week of February could present a great opportunity for the family to talk about Valentine’s Day. The feelings, the commercialism, the atmosphere at school, the upcoming school dance, etc. Your teen is reminded every day by commercials on TV, radio, and the internet that February and Valentine’s Day represents romance. 

Find out how they feel about this. Dig into good, positive questions with empathy and no judgement. With this approach, you may learn that absolutely nothing is wrong–or perhaps something is–and you just jumped in front of the line for caring in the eyes of your teen.

Steps to Take With Your Teen

Remember that you can take some really forward steps with your teen by stimulating positive conversations about school, friends, classes, teachers, family and so much more.