The University’s new bystander intervention program for drug and alcohol safety, the Red Watch Band, has been inspiring students to become active responders in potentially dangerous drug or alcohol-related situations. The Red Watch Band originally started in Stony Brook University, after the son of one Stony Brook health professional died of alcohol poisoning. This drove the school to create a program for students to understand the signs and dangers of drug and alcohol poisoning and support other students in need.
This year, Red Watch Band started offering trainings at URochester for students to promote those same initiatives of actively preventing drug or alcohol poisoning and supporting others.
Health Promotion Initiatives Manager Danielle D’Onofrio, was responsible for introducing Red Watch Band to the University, noting how their training sessions inspire students to actively care for one another and intervene in critical situations.
“We really want to create this community of compassion and caring and understanding and collective responsibility,” said D’Onofrio. “We want to create a community that’s tight-knit and cares for each other.”
Red Watch Band holds monthly training sessions in Wilson Commons, which include learning activities such as group discussions and role-play. Peer Health Health Advocate Madison Zeng illustrated how these training sessions incorporated presentations and group discussions along with the interactive activities.
“Students are able to analyze the given scenario and exercise their critical thinking skills to consider how to respond appropriately when faced with emergency situations,” she said.
These role-playing scenarios were a highlight for participants such as Zeng, as it gave them opportunities to practice supporting fellow students in actual situations involving alcohol and drugs.
“I am not naturally inclined to engage in role-play activities, but I found the processes of this training to be very effective and brought me out of my comfort zone,” Zeng said. “I would not have been exposed to the knowledge and concepts shared in the program otherwise, as I do not believe there are any other campus programs that focus directly on this scope.”
Some of the main benefits of attending these training sessions include earning Medallion credit and a certification from the Red Watch Band.
“Being an active bystander feels like a big and scary ask, because you feel like, ‘Oh, I’m stopping something really big from happening,’” D’Onofrio said. “Sometimes the lift is a really small ask. It is calling DPS. It is walking a friend home. It is diffusing a situation where somebody is being peer pressured to consume and you make a joke and everybody moves on.”
Students such as Zeng appreciate that Red Watch Band training is offered to the University and teach them useful bystander intervention skills, which had not been offered before.
“It is great that this program is accessible to the entire school community,” Zeng said. “I would encourage all of my peers to attend a Red Watch Band session and become certified!”
