Relationships are a hard thing to navigate throughout high school. During high school, students learn to balance their life between work, sports, family, and school. Just to add to the pile of things to balance, students develop relationships with significant others. High school is a time to learn life lessons and develop mentally, socially, and physically. Students have to learn what is healthy and what is not healthy. This process includes learning what red flags in a relationship are.

Camas High School (CHS)  psychologist, Rachele Gentry said that some warning signs to watch out for are things like not being able to be yourself around your partner, feeling controlled, and a partner invading privacy. 

“Getting a second opinion and reaching out for help is I think the most important thing to do,” Gentry said.

If students need someone to talk to there are a lot of resources available to them at CHS. Students can go to any trusted adult including school counselors, psychologists, and teachers. If a student does not feel comfortable talking to anyone they can text a crisis line anonymously.

Admin Assistant and Varsity Cheer Coach Brandy Reed said, “I’ve had to go to some students and tell them it is not a healthy relationship and here is why it is not healthy and any time you do that you have to be willing to come alongside them and help them see the warning signs and give them tools for them to help them with the situation at hand.”

Seeing these red flags in a relationship can be especially hard for high school students. It impacts daily lives and has the potential to have long-term effects.

Reed said, “relationships affect you, and anything that affects you personally affects your performance.”

Gentry said, “someone can be seriously hurt and impact relationships with others.” 

Most students view high school relationships as nothing long-term. 

Junior Mari Walbruch said, “high school relationships can be a good distraction and a fun thing but nothing to hold on to.”

Even CHS staff feel that high school is a good way for students to just have a good time and slowly ease themselves into adulthood. CHS is a safe environment to learn from mistakes and try things out.

“I feel like high school is the time to have fun, play the field, taste all the flavors of ice cream, don’t limit yourself to vanilla and strawberry,” said Reed.

The best thing that students can do in a tough situation is to reach out for help if needed, have fun, and not take things too seriously.