Warning Signs Youth Anti-Violence Forums to Play Role in "Week Without Violence"
A new partnership between APA and the YWCA of America promises to yield opportunities in the month of October for the Warning Signs campaign. As part of YWCA's preparation for its annual Week Without Violence initiative, the national office is encouraging local YWCA chapters to collaborate with psychologists in their area to conduct youth forums in schools, community centers and YWCA facilities.
Each of the more than 350 YWCA community organizers across the country has received a letter from Dorothy Marcus, the YWCA Week Without Violence Coordinator, informing them about the Warning Signs campaign and asking them to team up with psychologists.
"This is a great opportunity for practitioners to tie their forums into a community program that is already attracting attention," says Jan Peterson, APA assistant executive director for public relations and communications. "A youth anti-violence forum will be the perfect complement to other activities scheduled for the rest of the week by local YWCA chapters."
Each day of the Week Without Violence, Oct. 17-23, focuses on a specific area:
- Sunday, October 17 - A Day of Remembrance
- Monday, October 18 - Protecting Our Children
- Tuesday, October 19 - Making Our Schools Safer
- Wednesday, October 20 - Confronting Violence Against Women
- Thursday, October 21 - Facing Violence Against Men
- Friday, October 22 - Eliminating Racism and Hate Crime
- Saturday, October 23 - Replacing Violence with Sports, Recreation and Fun
Public education campaign coordinators will soon be receiving a list of all the YWCA local coordinators. Practitioners are strongly urged to make contact with YWCA chapters in their area and take advantage of this once-a-year opportunity to combine forces.
The new YWCA partnership is a fitting addition to the tremendous success already resulting out of APA's collaboration with MTV: Music Television. To date, more than 1,900 psychologists have called the Campaign Services Bureau to request planning kits, giving at least one practitioner in every state the necessary tools to conduct anti-violence forums in schools and community centers.
As of August 1, other notable achievements of the Warning Signs campaign include:
- Generating 647,421 hits to the redesigned Help Center Web site
- Distributing more than 200,000 guides at youth forums and through the toll-free number
- Establishing more than 30 links with a variety of Web sites
- Convening more than 200 confirmed school and community forums
- Warning Signs Resources
Practitioners interested in the Warning Signs project can call the APA Campaign Services Bureau toll-free at 877.274.8787, ext. 135 to receive:
- Warning Signs kits
- Warning Signs guides
- Warning Signs video
- Information about cable affiliates in their community
- Links to other practitioners
Make the Mind/Body Connection in October
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,which provides practitioners a prime opportunity to educate the public about the connection between the mind and body - one of the three central themes of APA's Talk to Someone Who Can Help public education campaign.
You can take advantage of opportunities brought about by this national focus on breast cancer by reaching out in a variety of ways, such as hosting talks on the mind/body connection, writing letters to the editor or coordinating recommended reading displays on this topic at your local library. Last year, the APA Campaign Services Bureau developed an outreach kit to assist in your planning efforts. If you can't find your file copy, call the APA's Kim Forsht at 202.336.5898 to get a new one. The kit includes:
- Ideas for education and outreach activities
- Sample letter to physicians
- Sample letter to the editor
- Sample PSA
- Sample letter to media representatives
Tune In - New Warning Signs PSA
APA has developed a new tool that psychologists can use to spread the word about the Warning Signs. A script for a 20-second public service announcement (PSA) can be sent to radio stations for "on-air" reads.
Remember - while you may listen to talk stations or National Public Radio, most youth tune in to rock, alternative or rap music stations - most which can be found on the FM dial.
Help spread the word by reprinting the following PSA script on your association's letterhead and sending it out to radio stations. Policies for accepting PSAs differ from station to station, so call the sales department to find out their particular requirements.
Radio On-Air Read PSA
Warning Signs
:20
Violence. There is no single cause and there's no simple solution. One thing you can do is learn to recognize the warning signs of violence.
For a free brochure on how to spot the warning signs call the American Psychological Association at 1-800-268-0078 or go to helping.apa.org.
Psychology in the Media
Judgment Call
"Mumford," a new comedy from Touchstone Pictures, opens in theaters nationwide this month. It apparently tells the story of a con man who poses as a psychologist in a small town. His credentials - or lack of them - are disclosed in the end. While psychology is not portrayed in the best light, often times these portrayals back fire. Responding to this movie would be like complaining about a feature in a tabloid. Our hope is the public will recognize it for what it is - entertainment and not reality. We'll be closely monitoring its release, so stay tuned...
Not the Profile
A recent Associated Press story about schools using programs to conduct psychological profiles of potentially violent students referenced APA's Warning Signs project in the story. The Practice Directorate quickly set the news wire service straight and headed off other potentially erroneous stories about the youth anti-violence initiative in other news outlets, for example the NBC Nightly News.
If you receive media calls about psychological profiling of students please call the APA's Tricia Alvarez at 202.336.5910.
