Winter 2019 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
As a Bobcat community, weāve been known to have each otherās backs.
But in situations of sexual assault, violence, or hate, it can sometimes be unclear how to best help one anotherāwhich is why practicing bystander intervention techniques can help us to become better citizens both on and off campus.
Students can do this by looking inward at their social circles, or ādrinking families,ā suggests Thomas Vander Ven, a sociology professor at 51ĀŅĀ×.
In his book, Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard, Vander Ven explores how friend groups form unique social practices to take care of each other while in drinking situations.
Vander Ven suggests by infusing these social systems with bystander intervention training, students can offer each other more effective support.
Better Bystanders President Anthony Ciliberto says the club encourages students to practice the Four Dās of Intervention: Direct, Distract, Delegate, and Delay. Photo by Ellee Achten, BSJ ā14, MA ā17
āItās important to give bystander training to that unit and ask, āWhat are you doing to take care of each other? How do you do it? And what can we do to improve that process?āā he says.
The OHIO community has Better Bystanders, a student-led organization that offers training to students, faculty, and community members on how to safely stand up. They ask participants to practice the Four Dās of Intervention: Direct, Distract, Delegate, and Delay.
āHow you intervene depends on your personality, so whether an extrovert or introvert, itās what you feel most comfortable doing,ā said Anthony Ciliberto, the organizationās president.
āAs long as youāre intervening in some way, thatās what makes a difference,ā he says.
Illustration by Andrea Ucini
