Role model respect, compassion toward survivors, approachability and looking out for others.
Encourage students to attend Green Dot activities and events. Be there with them to show your support and participation.
Wear a Green Dot button or pin. Be willing to explain Green Dot and your personal commitment to violence prevention to anyone who asks.
■ Collaborate
Use your relationships with other staff and faculty to create a safer campus. Partner and discuss ways to support students as bystanders, support survivors and improve safety across campus.
Work with groups and staff members across campus to ensure all students subgroups are reached and encouraged to participate.
■ Incorporate Green Dot, active bystander behaviors, violence prevention messaging and survivor resources into student welcome/orientation materials and talks.
■ Encourage student groups to host Green Dot overview talks and bystander trainings
■ Incorporate prevention messaging into student organization meetings.
■ Support student efforts to host Green Dot activities or events such as:
Green Dot athletic games (wearing green dots on uniforms, etc.)
Green Dot social events
Violence prevention speaking engagements
Help student organizations develop Green Dots specifically for their populations (fraternities, sororities, drama club, peer educators, faith-based, LGBTQ+, etc.)
Build relationships and empower student leaders to take a positive stance on violence prevention efforts
Build positive, trusting relationships with students. Create a safe and approachable space for students and peers to come talk to you.
■ Talk with students about Green Dot and being an active bystander
The choices you make matter.
You’re not a bad person because you don’t always get involved.
There are a lot of options. You don’t have to do something directly. It’s best to pick the option that is best for you, depending on the situation.
What makes it hard for you to intervene?
What are ways of intervening that feel realistic to you?
■ Share your own experience
Create an opportunity to share your own experience as a bystander and how it makes you feel, then and now. You may have a situation when you were at risk and someone did or didn’t help. You may have been in a situation when you saw something and did or didn’t help. Sharing your own experience will help students and peers process their own experiences and become more active bystanders.
Easy Ways Faculty Can Incorporate Green Dot in Classes
Include a brief statement on your course syllabus reflecting your commitment to a safe campus and listing campus resources (including yourself) if someone needs a safe person to seek help.
Three times per semester, simply ask your classes “What green dots have you done or seen lately?” Research tells us that this simple task provides significant reinforcement of green dot behaviors.
■ Brainstorming Topics
You can assign topics from the list or offer it as a brainstorming tool for students:
The role of the bystanders in violence prevention
Bystander dynamics, what keeps people from acting in high-risk situations
The impact of high profile incidents of sexual assault on college campuses
The mental/physical health outcomes of partner or sexual violence perpetration or victimization
The portrayal of violence in the media, specifically partner violence, sexual assault and stalking
The history and application of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).The ways that gender socialization perpetuates partner violence, sexual assault and/or stalking
Social media and sexual assault shaming
The economic impact of interpersonal violence
Rates and impact of male victimization experiences (which includes, but is not limited to child abuse)
The cycle of violence associated with partner/interpersonal violence
Outcomes in case law of famous domestic violence and rape trials
Objectives and impact of federal Office of Violence Against Women (OVW)
The history of Title IX
Major social justice or cultural movements and their application to reducing violence today. How does culture change happen?
Social norms that contribute to the sustainability of interpersonal violence
Problems with rape and domestic violence legislation
The impact of interpersonal violence from a global perspective
Interpersonal violence in the LGBTQ community
Popular rape myths and an analysis of why they are so difficult to dispel
Medical injuries sustained by victims of domestic violence
Use of the socio-ecological model in comprehensive violence prevention
Marketing and branding applied to behavior and social norms change
Sexual aggression associated with sexual assault perpetration and repeat offenders
Effective social marketing for violence prevention
Developing effective messaging for violence prevention efforts on college campuses
Environmental management associated with the prevention of sexual assault on college campuses
■ Offer Extra Credit
Offering extra credit to students is always a very motivating factor. Below are some activities or events that could be used as extra credit assignments.
Talk about it.Have 10 conversations with friends or classmates about violence prevention or interpersonal violence in general and keep a log of the themes.
Google it.Look up bystander intervention and violence prevention. Find 10 sources (articles, YouTube videos, websites, etc.) that you can learn from and report back.
Broadcast it.Create a video “news story” of prevention efforts on this campus. Seek out perspectives from students, faculty, staff and administrators.
Tweet it.Create a hashtag for violence prevention efforts on campus and see how many retweets, favorites, hashtags repeats you can get. Report how effectively you were able to spread the message. You can do this with Facebook or other social media sites.
Market it.Design a mock social marketing campaign to mobilize the campus community around violence prevention. Write a plan, create a brand and distribution system.
Attend it.Participate in a community or campus event focused on Green Dot, violence prevention or victim support (Take Back the Night rally, Clothesline Project, etc.).
Discover it.Interview a local or campus victim service provider, advocate or counselor about their work and their opinions on prevention of violence.
Organize it.Start a project or organize and event or gathering to further Green Dot and other prevention efforts on campus. Mobilize your community!
Volunteer for it.Volunteer at the campus advocacy services, local rape crisis center or domestic violence shelter.
Write about it.Write an article or letter to the editor for the local or campus newspaper about the importance of violence prevention.
■ PowerPoint Slides
Insert slides at the beginning of your PowerPoint presentations that include information about Green Dot, bystander intervention tips or proactive ideas. Display a slide or have rotating slides up before class or as class ends. There is a downloadable file with premade slides containing an overview of Green Dot, inspirational quotes, realistic ways to do green dots and bystander stories. Feel free to use as you see fit.
Sample of Content from Green Dot Overview Slides
Red dot behaviors to look out for (Red Dots):
Someone is feeding drinks to another person who has clearly had enough
Someone’s partner is trying to control their every move
Someone seems to be scared or annoyed by another person who won’t take no for an answer
Acknowledge your obstacles:
Being shy
Being an introvert
Not liking confrontation
Not wanting to be embarrassed
Fearing for your personal safety
Not wanting to make a scene
Identify realistic solutions for you (Green Dots)
Calling a friend to help
Telling someone “that’s not cool” or to “back-off”
» Wellness Services » Green Dot
