Everyone can help stop violence by learning how to solve problems without fighting and by making sure there’s no bullying around them. The most important thing is when you see someone being violent or acting in a bad way, don’t just watch – do something to help.
Every day, we see people saying mean things, being mean, or even hurting others. Sometimes we do something about it, but sometimes we don’t. How do we decide what to do? Is there a safe way to help more often, and can others do it too?
Remember, stopping bad stuff from happening isn’t just about stopping a fight. It’s also about the small mean comments and bullying that happen before the violence occurs. We can step in and say something to stop things from getting worse or get help from others.
The goal is to stop violence before it even starts. Primary prevention means using the power of friends and community influence to help prevent violence. Prevention encourages bystanders and community members to become active through awareness, education, and practice to show that violence is not acceptable or the norm. This way, we can all help stop violence together.
Women’s Services is dedicated to educating, engaging, and challenging everyone in the community to be an active bystander. If each person decides to use voices, actions, and choices to make communities safer, a cultural shift is possible – a cultural shift that channels the power of peer influence and individual bystander choices to create lasting cultural change and rewrite the story and history of power-based, personal violence.
204 Spring Street
Meadville, PA 16335
Office Phone 814-724-4637
123 North Franklin Street
Titusville, PA 16354
Office Phone 814-775-0445
