Regional Meetings May 2009 Engaging Bystanders in Violence Prevention
The Spring Regional Meetings will help build individual and community responsibility for violence prevention by educating and empowering people to take action to help stop violence.
Participants will learn strategies to engage their constituents as bystanders who can then appropriately intervene. This model has been successfully applied to various forms of violence including bullying, teen dating violence, sexual assault, and other types of violence. Teaching youth how to intervene as a bystander and how to support a friend involved in abuse is an effective way to change their knowledge, beliefs and intentions.
Individuals who witness situations that may lead to violence have the choice to do nothing to contribute to the negative behavior, to de-escalate the situation or offfer support to the target. Research shows that youth targets of bullying and harassment rarely seek help from adults. Therefore, it is particularly important for adults who work with youth to know what effective strategies enable peers to help each other.
The objectives for this free session are:
Objectives:
Learn what roles bystanders play in an incidence of violence
Discover why engaging bystanders is a promising violence prevention strategy
Practice strategies that encourage positive bystander behavior.
ICVP's Semi-Annual Regional Meetings Information & Networking Across Illinois
Typically three hours in length and conducted by ICVP staff and outside trainers, ICVP’s Regional Meetings are held in four regions across the state: Southern, Central, Chicago and Northern. Regional Meetings are generally held twice a year: once in the spring and once in the summer. Each round of meetings addresses a different violence prevention topic. The meetings are attended by a variety of youth and adults on ICVP’s mailing list, and serve to:
Raise awareness of certain types of violence (e.g. sexual violence) or issues associated with violence (e.g. media violence)
Raise awareness of effective Violence Prevention methods and resources, such as: curricula; programs; experts in the field; educational materials; and methods of prevention such as social emotional learning and peer education/support.
Build violence prevention skills, such as how to develop an environment that promotes healthy and equitable relationships or how to detect and report elder abuse.
Expand violence prevention networks of the participants by providing opportunities for them to learn about one another’s programs and interests.
Build grassroots momentum around violence prevention campaigns such as the effort to pass the Illinois Violence Prevention Act and the Tobacco Funds campaign or generate interest and input on the After-school Initiative.
Through their participation in Regional Meetings, participants have increased their knowledge and skill level, expanded their networks, and joined in on grassroots efforts to prevent violence. We have witnessed changes in violent behaviors (youth deciding not to buy a gun after meeting and speaking with other youth at Regional Meetings) and an expansion in participants’ perspectives through dialogue we generate at the meetings.
