If you’re interested in learning more about our overall method of addressing violence and teaching skills to prevent violence, we recommend scheduling a free Approaches to Violence Prevention session with decision-makers in your school or organization!
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Change The Course: Anti-Bias & Anti-Bullying Program
(6 hours)
Change the Course provides training to all school community members to support a caring and inclusive school culture. Participants increase empathy and learn to speak up and take action against bias, social cruelty, bullying, and exclusion. The Change the Course curriculum focuses on:
• SELF-AWARENESS and the cultivation of a positive self-concept and group identity
• CRITICAL THINKING about bias and stereotypes and their impact on relationships and communities
• SKILLS to set boundaries and communicate powerfully and respectfully
• COURAGE to address social cruelty and exclusion and to advocate for each other as allies in creating a caring and inclusive school culture
Class size: up to 30
Appropriate for: ages 11 and up
Rethinking Violence: Prevention 101
(1 – 1.5 hours)
This activity-driven class addresses the issues with how our society addresses sexual violence and how we can better prevent sexual assault. Students begin by deconstructing common “safety tips” in order to understand how common advice actually contain factors that are known to contribute to sexual violence, namely: victim-blaming and rape myths and reinforcement of biases. Students examine other factors that can lead to violence in our communities. The class then looks at ways to act to prevent violence – both as acting as a bystander, as well as by challenging gender roles and acceptance of norms that are supportive of violence.
• CRITICAL THINKING around socialization and gender norms and how they can affect sexual violence
• MEDIA ANALYSIS of the violence we see portrayed most often and how that relates to biases
• UNDERSTANDING of the role bystanders and community members can play in preventing and interrupting violence
Class size: 20-75
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Everyday Interventions
(1 – 1.5 hours)
This seminar addresses the behaviors that constitute healthy and unhealthy, or abusive, relationships. Students work together to examine and discuss the behaviors in the spectrum of domestic violence and explore the best ways to support someone experiencing an abusive relationship. The Everyday Interventions curricula focuses on:
• IDENTIFICATION of the role rape myths can play in community reactions to sexual violence
• EMPATHY for those who have experienced or are experiencing sexual violence
• UNDERSTANDING of the role bystanders and community members can play in preventing and interrupting sexual violence
• SKILLS and increased language for how to have difficult conversations and act as a bystander
Class size: 15-30 students
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Consent in Practice
(1 – 1.5 hours)
While a large number of individuals in our communities will unfortunately experience sexual violence, all of us are in positions to act as bystanders and agents of change. This curriculum addresses the power of community members to act to prevent violence and create change. By using roleplay scenarios, experiential activities and storytelling, instructors engage youth and explore rape myths and social norms supportive of sexual violence and rigid gender roles, while increasing empathy, pro-social behavior and life and interpersonal skills.
• IDENTIFICATION of the role rape myths can play in community reactions to sexual violence
• EMPATHY for those who have experienced or are experiencing sexual violence
• UNDERSTANDING of the role bystanders and community members can play in preventing and interrupting sexual violence
• SKILLS and increased language for how to have difficult conversations and act as a bystander
Class size: 15-30 students
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Creating Protective Communities
(1.5 – 2 hours)
So many of us want to prevent sexual violence among the children we work with and don’t know how best to do so. Much of the time, prevention takes more of an individual approach– what a child can do to deter abuse or respond to “grooming.” Research now shows that it is not only a child that is “groomed” for sexual abuse, but families, schools, and entire communities. This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on the messages we receive about safety as adults and other factors that can lead to violence in our communities. Participants will also learn how to proactively and effectively prevent sexual violence in their communities. This training is designed to support those who work with youth and are concerned with reducing the impact of violence in their lives.
This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on the safety messages we receive and other factors that leave our children at risk. Participants will learn how to proactively and effectively prevent sexual violence in their communities by using a community-based approach to “grooming” and other tactics that perpetrators use, rather than an individual child approach. Participants will examine barriers to intervention and practice strategies proven to reduce sexual abuse in communities.
For teachers, school staff, parents, and other adults who work with youth.
Exploring Healthy Boundaries
(1 – 1.5 hours)
This seminar helps students explore how close they become with those in their lives based on how they are treated. This fun and very interactive class helps students explore ways of negotiating the complex arenas of school, social media, cliques, bullying and relationships and how to set boundaries with others. The Exploring Healthy Boundaries curriculum focuses on:
• KNOWLEDGE about healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors
• AWARENESS of when and how to address unhealthy behaviors
• NEW PERSPECTIVES on relationship dynamics
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 10 and up
Safety and Intuition
(1 – 1.5 hours)
This seminar addresses our most powerful safety tool – our intuition. Yet many people are socialized to listen to safety advice that comes from external sources, which often doesn’t keep people safe. The Safety and Intuition seminar focuses on:
• RECONNECTING people to their intuition
• RECOGNITION of how your intuition can keep you safe
• ANALYSIS of common “safety tips” we hear and whether or not they’re effective
• IDENTIFICATION of manipulation techniques and why they are effective
• SKILLS for listening to your internal reactions and taking action accordingly
Class size: 20-40
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Speak Up, Speak Out: Bystander Intervention
(3 hours)
So many of us want to stand up to injustice when we see it but don’t know how. This training gives participants the skills to stand up for themselves & others and intervene effectively as a bystander. Teens and adults will practice verbal and physical techniques to speak up against violence & oppression, have difficult conversations with people in our lives, and de-escalate potentially violent situations. Participants will practice different strategies for intervening through role-plays — whether it is someone we know telling an offensive joke or making a concerning comment, or an instance of harassment or violence we witness in public.
Class size: up to 30
Appropriate for: Adults
Powerful People & IMPACT:Ability
If you’re interested in bringing our programs for people with disabilities to your school or organization, learn more here!
Self-Defense Programs
If you’re interested in hosting a self-defense class at your school or organization, read our class descriptions here!