Pictured is Franklin Hall, home to Kent State University's
School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication will offer a Green Dot overview training session for 40-plus students on Wednesday, Sept. 16, as part of its national Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop, which is set for Thursday, Sept. 17, in Franklin Hall.

This year’s Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop will delve into significant topics including re-victimization, extreme crisis communication, campus sexual assault and the impacts of social media on trauma incidents and victims. Best practices for journalists and other communication professionals also will be covered.

Adding the Green Dot violence prevention training to this year’s pre-workshop lineup is an added value for any students taking a course within the College of Communication and Information and will initiate discussions scheduled at the daylong Poynter workshop on Sept. 17.

Green Dot is a national movement seeking to create new norms to replace the norm of sexual violence. The session will help students understand what behaviors lead to personal violence, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking and related issues, and how they, as individuals and as bystanders, can prevent or reduce the risk of harm to themselves and their peers.

Suzy D’Enbeau, an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies, and Jennie O’Connell, director of the Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services, are certified Green Dot educators and will lead the session.

D’Enbeau says that Green Dot training is designed to help students not only identify potential harm, but also to help them understand their own barriers and how they choose to respond to situations.

“Some people are going to feel more comfortable directly intervening, and some people will prefer other interventions,” D’Enbeau says. “The goal is to help students develop a toolkit to decide how they want to intervene.”

Alicia Robinson, program coordinator for Kent State’s Women’s Center and a certified Green Dot educator, says the Green Dot Bystander Movement was brought to Kent State to help make the university a safer campus for everyone.

During the overview session at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, students will learn about Green Dot’s mission and will engage in small group activities designed to help them take proactive and reactive measures against violence, Robinson says.

Registration for the special Green Dot session is closed, but anyone interested in attending all or part of the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop can register online or get more information at http://mediaethics.jmc.kent.edu.

About Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop

The Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop is a one-day training program for professionals, educators and students that examines critical issues and perspectives in media ethics. Moderated by distinguished ethics faculty from the Poynter Institute, the Media Ethics Workshop provides a unique forum for professionals and students alike to confront and discuss significant issues crucial to understanding media ethics and its effect on our world. Kent State School of Journalism and Mass Communication Associate Professor Jan Leach is the chairperson of the workshop planning committee. Previous workshops have addressed online ethics, sports media ethics, political media ethics, entertainment media ethics and the ethics of data mining. Established in 2004, the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop continues its mission to strengthen media credibility and bolster citizens’ faith in media integrity.

About Kent State’s Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services

The Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services provides education and awareness to students around sexual violence and support services for those who are impacted. The office launched the Green Dot Bystander Movement in 2014. For more information about Green Dot at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/greendot.

About Green Dot

Green Dot etc. is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to violence prevention education. Green Dot is built on the premise that the community can measurably and systematically reduce violence by the actions of individuals. For more information, visit www.livethegreendot.com.

Contact Jennifer Kramer, APR, in the dean’s office of the College of Communication and Information, with questions at 330-672-1960 or jlkramer@kent.edu.