Faculty, staff can sharpen bystander intervention skills in upcoming workshops

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An upcoming session from Stand for State will give faculty and staff a special opportunity to experience the bystander intervention workshops available to students. 

Penn State’s bystander intervention program, Stand for State, offers tools built around the 3 D’s — direct, distract and delegate — for stepping in when others are threatened. Launched University-wide in January 2016, hundreds of students have taken the workshop, learning safe and effective bystander intervention tactics created by Green Dot. 

The workshops will better inform employees about the skills students are learning and the Stand for State program overall, as well as present how action can be taken in multiple scenarios to remove family, friends and strangers from harm’s way. Additionally, participants will learn proactive ways to demonstrate that they are not OK with violence. 

Faculty and staff are invited to participate in the three-hour version of the student workshop, which will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Jan. 26, in 233A HUB-Robeson Center. Coffee and tea service will be provided. Participants can register by Jan. 23 at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4aadaf2ca4f85-stand2.

Attendees will:

• Learn warning signs of sexual and relationship violence;
• Learn how to safely and effectively practice to interrupt and defuse potentially risky situations;
• Consider values in regards to personal responsibility to intervene;
• Learn how everyday choices can contribute to creating a campus where safety for all is a priority and everyone plays a role in watching out for each other.