Recognizing red and green flags is key, says Boers
OPINION
By Mackenzie Boers
Flamborough Review
Thursday, June 1 2023
May is Sexual Assault Prevention Month.
A month to raise awareness of gender-based violence and learn about ways to prevent it. For us on Healthy Youth Network’s student ally team, HEART (Healthy Education About Relationships Team), we took part by organizing our EmpowHER and EmpowerMENt breakfast events.
At these events, we had guest speakers come to talk about healthy relationships, consent, and speaking up against gender-based violence, while the student attendees enjoyed a free breakfast.
Maddie Brockbank from Interval House of Hamilton spoke at Sir Allan MacNab’s very first EmpowHER breakfast. She led an interactive presentation with female and non-binary students, going through green flags and red flags in a relationship and the different aspects of consent.
Green flags are characteristics that let us know if a relationship is healthy, such as making an effort to spend quality time together, and making an effort to communicate openly, even about things that may be uncomfortable.
Justin Davis, a retired hockey player and the author of “Conflicted Scars,” spoke at both EmpowerMENt breakfasts. He had an inspiring presentation for male and non-binary students, touching on topics of consent, healthy relationships, toxic masculinity and mental health. Davis left students with an empowering message, that by attending these breakfasts — even if they took away just one thing — that we are agents of change.
By being able to recognize red and green flags, we can advocate for healthier relationships in our own lives. By understanding consent — that only a yes is a yes — we can prevent cases of sexual violence. By having these conversations with students, we can work to prevent gender-based violence in future years.
We will be recruiting students for next year’s HEART teams at WDHS and Sir Allan MacNab. If you have a student passionate about making a difference — while earning volunteer hours at the same time — they can learn more about our team at youth.healthyouthnetwork.ca/heart.
Mackenzie Boers is the ally program co-ordinator for Healthy Youth Network. She can be reached at mackenzie@healthyouthnetwork.ca.
