Introduction

         I partnered with my on campus organization, Communicating Health in Practice to facilitate a One Love viewing of the short film Escalation and then hold a guided group discussion for those in the audience after. The One Love Foundation was founded in honor of Yeardley Love, a young woman who lost her life at 22 due to her abuser. Her death was preventable with proper education and guidance. That is why Love’s mother and sister founded the organization, to educate young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships. During the guided discussion I had an interesting turn of events and questions from one of my group members and I was able to utilize learning objective six, using appropriate language and behaviors and suspend judgment to listen empathetically in order to potentially deescalate the situation.

Reflection

         For my leadership activity I decided to join up with an on campus organization that I am a part of, Communicating Health in Practice (CHIP). They are an organization that works on helping students in the Communication Department prepare for life after college while simultaneously helping them be focused on living a mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy lifestyle. They are open to anyone on campus and are welcoming to all people. The organization talks about different topics every other meeting, often going back and forth between topics that will help students in their future endeavors and those about health. We decided to raise awareness about the dangers and signs of unhealthy relationships, to do this we partnered with the One Love Foundation.

         They do this through a couple of different programs, one of which is by viewing the film Escalation which is followed by a guided group discussion. Escalation depicts a young woman in college who is in an unhealthy relationship. There are many signs throughout the film that both the main character, her friends, and his friends brush off as nothing. Things such as controlling who she sees, cutting her off from friends, etc. Myself along with my advisor and my other board members thought it was important to share this information with other young individuals who may see or experience an unhealthy relationship.

         We held the viewing on October 16, 2019 in Heide 101 and was available for everyone. We shared the word with professors, students, and posted on social media as well as around campus to generate awareness for the event. This is a very heavy topic that we discussed and decided to invite other organizations to join us, Active Minds, CASIV, and New Beginnings APFV. Active Minds works on discussing mental health issues with students on campus in order to help students while they are at school. CASIV is the Coalition Against Sexual & Interpersonal Violence on campus organization that helps advocate and find resources for students. New Beginnings APFV is an organization in the Whitewater community that is available for everyone to utilize who are experiencing domestic violence, interpersonal violence, rape or stalking. These people were able to help provide excellent feedback and resources to the students. 

         The format of this guided discussion is that the 40 minute film is watched and then people are broken up into small groups of 5 to 10 people per group to discuss what they just watched. Each group has a facilitation leader that has gone through the One Love training in order to be better equipped to handle questions and discuss such a heavy topic. During this exercise I had someone who sparked some red flags about possibly being in a domestic abuse relationship and possibly hurting someone. I did my best to be as empathetic and non-judgemental as possible and listen closely for any and all red flags. 

         For this discussion I had 8-10 people in my group which was on the larger end, and we had a good mixture of male and females. There was one young man who had more questions and more interest in this topic than the others. As I would ask questions and lead people to discuss more about different warning signs we saw throughout the movie and ways that this could have been prevented, he decided to share more personal information and ask more personal questions. He  started off by asking about domestic abuse or interpersonal relationship violence if it happens between you and a sibling and I followed up by saying yes, domestic abuse can happen between siblings. He went on to explain that he has very physical fights with his brother and that he is pretty shaken up by it, and seemed very aggravated by it. I did my best to reassure him that he has a right to feel that way. A little later in the discussion he pointed out that the movie shows what somebody could do if they were looking to harm someone, followed by the question, “What would you do if someone felt like they were going to harm someone?” This made me feel uncomfortable and at that point I knew I had to get further help. In the meantime I assured him that there are different resources in order to get help like on campus counselors and resources in the community like New Beginnings. 

         After the discussion, I brought this up to my advisor and reached out to on campus resources that would be able to reach out to the young man and get him help. Reflecting on it now, I wonder if we were overreacting or if it was for the best. However, I would rather overreact than have him hurt himself or someone else. Although I ended up interjecting at the end in order to make sure everyone was safe, I believe this best showcases my ability to use appropriate language and behaviors and suspend judgment to listen empathetically. In order to be able to know if I needed to bring this to someone's attention, I had to listen empathetically and I did my best to use non triggering or offensive language in order for him to feel safe in this situation because he was being vulnerable and letting people in.