Swipe left on heartbreak: Delhi University to teach Gen Z how to spot red flags and build better relationships

Delhi University will launch a course in 2025 to help students understand love, intimacy, and toxic relationships. The course tackles jealousy, breakups, and emotional resilience, aiming to prevent rising violence linked to failed romances.

Delhi University is about to do something no Indian college has done before! DU will teach Gen Z how to spot red flags in relationships, understand emotions, and process heartbreak.

Starting in the 2025-26 academic session, DU will roll out a new elective course titled Negotiating Intimate Relationships. Open to students across all disciplines, this four-credit general elective will be taught by the Department of Psychology and aims to foster honest, informed conversations around friendship, romance, rejection, jealousy, and breakups, reports the Times of India.

Why DU felt the need for this course

The Delhi University's course was conceptualised in the backdrop of rising crimes involving teenagers and intimate partners, many triggered by toxic relationships and online surveillance.

In just a two-week span between May and June 2025, Delhi witnessed the murders of three young women, Komal (21), Vijaylaxmi (19), and Mehek Jain (18), all allegedly killed by partners consumed by jealousy and emotional instability.

In each case, the relationships spiralled into violence, underscoring a growing concern about emotional immaturity and the lack of early education about healthy boundaries.

Psychologists believe such crimes are not isolated incidents but symptoms of deeper emotional issues intensified by social media, surveillance culture, and a lack of guidance.

“Without early emotional education, this cycle will only worsen,” said one DU psychologist, requesting anonymity.

What the course covers

The course is divided into four key units, each exploring a different stage and complexity of relationships:

Unit 1: The Psychology of Friendships & Intimacy

How casual friendships evolve into deeper romantic bonds.

Unit 2: Theories of Love & Sexuality

Includes concepts like Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love and Two-Factor Theory.

Unit 3: Recognising Toxic Patterns

How to identify red flags, deal with jealousy, understand break-up cues, and detect intimate partner violence.

Unit 4: Building Healthy Relationships

Covers boundary-setting, emotional resilience, mutual respect, and communication.

Each student will attend three lectures and one tutorial per week, with a strong focus on interactive learning, including:

• Social media habit analysis
• Break-up and boundary-setting exercises
• Debates on online dating (like Tinder mishaps)
• Pop culture discussions, such as Kabir Singh and Titanic
• Teaching Gen Z how to feel and deal

DU faculty member Latika Gupta said the aim is to bring conversations about love, rejection, and emotional wellbeing into the classroom, where students can reflect, question, and grow emotionally, says the Times of India report.

“No one teaches how to handle rejection or set boundaries. If we learn this early, some of the tragedies wouldn’t happen,” Gupta said.

She added that when pop culture normalises toxic love, classroom discussions can help students deconstruct and unlearn harmful behaviours.

An education beyond the academic

The course stands out because it goes beyond traditional academics, tackling the real-life emotional challenges Gen Z faces in the age of Tinder, Instagram, and 24/7 online surveillance.

DU hopes that through awareness and guided dialogue, students will develop healthier ways of relating, not just romantically, but emotionally and socially as well.

In a world where a misplaced text or a silent treatment can spark extreme reactions, teaching emotional literacy might just be the most relevant education of all.

DU’s course might not save every relationship but it might just save a life.