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Coco Warner ReportingWe take classes in all sorts of subjects-- classes that prepare us for our the rest of our lives. Yet many Utahns are tying the knot without taking a class in marriage.
Most people would call the decision to marry one, if not the, biggest decisions a person will ever make. And the state of Utah wants you to take it even more seriously by doing some homework BEFORE you take the plunge.
"When Harry Met Sally"/Castle Rock Entertainment: "You know the first time we met, I really didn't like you that much. I didn't like you. Yeah, you did, you were just so uptight then. You're much softer now. You know I hate that kind of remark. It sounds like a compliment, but it's really an insult. Okay, you're still as hard as nails."
You could say Harry and Sally have a basic communication problem. They're just one of the many couples who could benefit from a state-sanctioned marriage prep course.
Barbara Smith/Dir. Utah Family Center: "No one trains us how to be married. All we have are the examples that we've seen and hopefully most of us have had good examples."
But many couples haven't had good examples. We takes classes in everything from English to math-- so why not a course on marriage?
Barbara Smith/Dir. Utah Family Center: "This is a great class to take when you're engaged, to sit down together and decide that you're going to communicate well, that your communication is going to be open."
And that is the course's primary focus-- communication. Barbara says couples need to figure out how to say what they want to say--and then how to really listen.
Barbara Smith/Dir. Utah Family Center: "It talks about some of the red flags that might show up in our communication patterns, ie, every time you get into a discussion it escalates into something worse or someone always take the negative interpretation of what we said instead of the positive."
Coco Warner/Eyewitness News: "And this is one of the rooms that Barbara likes to hold the marriage prep class in. She says she likes to order pizza and make it feel more like a date night."
Barbara Smith/Dir. Utah Family Center: "It's a fun class to take and get done in time to go to a movie or something afterward. We try to make it a fun experience for the couple who is coming."
The state has trained 80 teachers in this marriage prep course-- many are in rural areas.
Coming up tomorrow, more relationship advice from AM 820's Dr. Liz Hale.
