Bridgewater, Va. – Bridgewater College’s BC United hosted their annual Red Flag Week events on-campus as part of the Red Flag Campaign. Members of BC United held events from Oct. 25 to Oct. 28 to educate students on the different types of red flags and green flags in relationships.

The Red Flag Campaign is a public awareness campaign designed to address relationship violence and to promote the prevention of dating violence on college campuses while providing positive alternatives.

“Red Flag Week focuses on healthy relationships, not just with a romantic partner, but also finding boundaries with your co-workers and teammates. Red flags are what to look out for in a relationship,” said junior Allison Thompson.

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, BC United held an event called “how to treat your boo” where they showed different scenarios of red flags in relationships.

The first two events of red flag week were designed to educate individuals on how to recognize the difference between traits that may be seen as healthy or unhealthy in both romantic and platonic relationships, according to senior Lily Stonecipher.

“The point of it is not to avoid red flags, but to be aware of them. It can help people be more self-aware, while also being able to see the red flags in other people as well,” said Thompson.

“Relationships have a spectrum that range from healthy to unhealthy to abusive. Red flags are little signs within a relationship that can show signs of an unhealthy or an abusive relationship; whereas green flags are positive, healthy signs in a relationship,” said fifth-year senior Demetreus Jalepes.

The end of the week was dedicated to the green flags in relationships and what they mean. The green flag part of the week helped use the information provided at the beginning of the week to provide some healthy alternatives.

“You don’t always want to focus on the negative stuff, so you want to point out the green flags in a relationship as well,” said junior Ronald Robbinson Jr. “The green flags are what you are seeking in a relationship with another person — the good stuff and the positives.”

“We use green flags as signs of a healthy relationship, they are a replacement of what to do instead of red flag actions,” said Thompson. “You do not want to only have a long list of what not to do, so we counteract it by also providing you with a list of things you can do that are healthy.”