Stay Involved

Whether you have attended a training or not, everyone can get involved in Green Dot right now! Proactive Green Dots are ways we communicate, reinforce and advance two specific norms in our community:

1. Violence is not tolerated here.
2. Everyone is expected to do their part to help prevent violence.

A sign that says "Make a Green Dot" with instructions on how to make one at an event.

Find Your Green Dot!

Are you looking for ideas for Green Dots you can do? You've come to the right place! Check out the lists below for proactive Green Dot examples suggested for students, staff and faculty members.

Green Dots for Students

Tell those you care about that ending violence is important to you.
Add “What’s Your Green Dot?” or "#LiveTheGreenDot" to your social media profiles.
Share links to campus or community resources.
Talk to your friends if you are concerned they might be in an unhealthy relationship.
Attend a program or event designed to raise awareness about violence.
Fundraise for an organization that addresses violence.
Display Green Dot posters, placards or promotional items in personal spaces.
Add a Green Dot button or sticker to personal items like backpacks and water bottles
Work to bring Green Dot to your class or group.
If you’re going out drinking, designate someone to stay sober and ensure everyone comes and goes together.
Post a message on social media about a Green Dot you did, a training you attended or any other statement of support.
Share statistics with friends about power-based personal violence.

Green Dots for Staff

Hang a Green Dot poster in your office.
Have local resource brochures visibly available in your office.
Display a Green Dot placard in your office.
Recognize risk factors associated with violence and ensure that faculty, staff, and students are provided with adequate training to respond.
Ensure adequate funding for prevention and intervention efforts.
Add “What’s Your Green Dot?” or "#LiveTheGreenDot" to your email signature.
Talk with colleagues about your personal commitment to violence prevention and Green Dot.
Educate yourself and your staff about power-based personal violence.
Bring Green Dot training to your next staff meeting, organization meeting or retreat.
Ensure that you have effective policies in place to assure safety in the workplace and support victims of violence.

Green Dots for Faculty

Show your support

Display Green Dot posters, placards or promotional items in your office
Add “What’s Your Green Dot?” or "#LiveTheGreenDot" to your email signature.
Have local resources’ brochures visibly available in your office and/or classroom.
Insert a line on your syllabus about Green Dot or link to resources.
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.

Role model

Model respectful language, compassion toward survivors, approachability and looking out for others.
Ask your department head or supervisor to bring a Green Dot to your whole department.
Have a conversation with your colleagues and students about what they can be doing to spread Green Dots.
Bring educational programming on interpersonal violence prevention to your classes.
Make it clear to your students that if they are dealing with violence, you are a safe person to approach for support and referrals.
Become familiar with campus and community resources.
Consider conducting research that furthers our understanding of violence prevention.
Assign readings or papers or journal topics on the issue of power-based personal violence.

Collaborate

Use your relationships and departmental or interdepartmental partnerships to discuss ways in which to support students as bystanders, support survivors, and improve safety for positive outcomes in the classroom.
Reach out to campus and community resources to come present in your class.

Create an extra credit opportunity - some ideas include:

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.
TikTok it. Research 5 bystander barriers (things that can keep people from acting in high risk situations) and create TikToks to demonstrate each one. These articles will help:
- Latane, Bibb, and John M. Darley. “The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn’t he help?.” (1970): 276-290.
- Darley, John M., and Bibb Latane. “Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility.” Journal of personality and social psychology 8.4p1 (1968): 377.
- Latane, Bibb, and John M. Darley. “Group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies.” Journal of personality and social psychology 10.3 (1968): 215.
- Fischer, Peter, et al. “The unresponsive bystander: Are bystanders more responsive in dangerous emergencies?.” European journal of social psychology 36.2 (2006): 267-278.
- Garcia, Stephen M., et al. “Dual effects of implicit bystanders: Inhibiting vs. facilitating helping behavior.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 19.2 (2009): 215-224.
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.
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. Keep track of the “likes,” “shares,” “comments” and “follow backs.”
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 (Green Dot Bystander Training, Take Back the Night, Domestic Violence Coordinating Council’s March to End the Silence on Domestic Violence).
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.

Talk to your students about being active bystanders - talking points for student bystanders:

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 and what’s coming up for you.
What makes it hard for you?
This is what makes it hard for me...
What are ways of intervening that feel realistic to you?