The Dubuque Community School District will officially kick-off Green Dot, the district’s new violence prevention program for middle- and high-school students, at a launch festival from 3-5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, at the Dubuque Senior High School Tennis Courts.

The event, which is free and open to the public, precedes the Hempstead/Senior football games that evening. Media are invited and encouraged to attend the opening, which will also be attended by a representative from Green Dot who will be available for interviews. The Dubuque Community School District is the first district in the nation to implement Green Dot district wide at both the middle- and high-school level.

Green Dot etc. (commonly referred to as simply Green Dot), is a comprehensive approach to violence prevention that capitalizes on the power of peer and cultural influence across all levels of the socio-ecological model.

The program targets all community members as potential bystanders and seeks to engage them (through awareness, education and skills-practice) in proactive behaviors that establish intolerance of violence as the norm. It also looks to engage them in reactive interventions in potentially violent situations – resulting in the ultimate reduction of violence.’

Teams of staff and students participated in training last year and early this year to prepare for implementation of the program. “By design, the Green Dot program is not about being preachy,” said Mae Hingtgen, the district’s behavior support specialist who oversees the program. “It is about empowering a generation of young people who are committed to social change and giving them the tools to change socials norms from the ground up.”

Conceptually, Green Dot etc. is comprised of three basic components:

  • A single choice in one moment in time to use your voice, actions or choices to make one small corner of the world safer.
  • A shared vision that creates momentum through the power of a common language and purpose.
  • A social movement that harnesses the power of peer influence and individual bystander choices to create lasting culture change resulting in the ultimate reduction of power-based personal violence.

The Green Dot program in the Dubuque Community School District is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice.

For more information, contact the DCSD School and Community Relations Office at (563)552-3020.

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