At School
Eddie and his friends are talking by their lockers when Alma and Jackie walk by. Eddie’s friends start making sexual gestures at the girls. Eddie notices the girls roll their eyes and become upset. How can Eddie Step In?
Direct: Eddie tells his friends to stop and to leave the girls alone.
Delegate: Eddie nudges one of his friends and says, "Why are they acting so immature?" in an effort to get someone else on his side.
Distract: Eddie tells his friends a teacher is coming to get them to stop.
Deliver: During break, Eddie apologizes to Alma and Jackie for his friends' behavior and asks if he can do anything to support them.
Kylie notices that someone she follows from her school reposted a meme making fun at sexual assault victims. How can Kylie step in?
Direct: Kylie responds to the post saying this isn't funny and is harmful to victims of violence.
Delegate: Kylie reports the post.
Distract: Kylie reaches out to a support line or friend.
Deliver: At school the next day, Kylie confronts the person who reposted the meme.
At a party, Darcy notices another girl, Teresa, being led upstairs by a guy she doesn’t recognize. Teresa is stumbling, tripping over herself, and slouched over. How can Darcy step in?
Direct: Darcy goes up to the couple and tells the guy to leave Teresa alone, saying that Teresa has had too much to drink.
Delegate: Darcy points out the couple to someone else and asks them to intervene.
Distract: Darcy goes up to Teresa saying she's been looking for her all night and needs her for a group picture.
Deliver: Darcy checks in with Teresa the day after the party to see if she's okay.
Lanie is at the gym when she notices an older man filming another woman working out. The woman does not know she is being filmed. How can Lanie step in?
Direct: If it's safe to do so, Lanie can confront the man and ask why he is recording. Or Lanie can tell the woman she is being filmed.
Delegate: Lanie can let one of the gym staff members know what's going on.
Distract: Lanie can ask the woman to show her where the bathroom is or try to lead her somewhere private to tell her what's going on.
Deliver: After the man has left, Lanie can check in with the woman to see if she's okay.
Jody notices that her friend, Tonya, keeps receiving forceful physical contact from her partner, Ashley. Sometimes at school Ashley grabs Tonya's arms and yanks her away or shoves her around. Jody notices Tonya looks uncomfortable. How can Jody Step In?
Direct: When this happens again, Jody tells Ashley that she's hurting Tonya.
Delegate: Jody checks in with a different friend and asks if they've noticed this too. Together they make a plan.
Distract: When Jody sees Tonya looking uncomfortable with Ashley, she approaches them both and asks Tonya to help her with a homework assignment.
Deliver: Jody asks Tonya to hang out after school and checks in with her. Jody tells her what she's noticed and asks if Tonya is doing okay.
In one of their group chats, Michael’s friend sends a screenshot of a nude photo his girlfriend sent him. How can Michael step in?
Direct: Michael immediately replies telling his friend it's not okay to send this without his girlfriend's consent.
Delegate: Michael turns to a trusted adult to ask for advice about what to do.
Distract: Michael tries to spam the chat with funny memes and TikToks to change the subject.
Deliver: Michael reaches out to the girl from the photo and tells him about his friend sharing her image. He reminds her of available resources.
Liam notices his friend Casey repeatedly telling her boyfriend that she doesn’t want to drink, but he keeps pressuring her to have more. How can Liam step in?
Direct: Liam pulls the boyfriend aside and tells him Casey said no and that it's not okay to keep pressuring her.
Delegate: Liam calls a mutual friend over. Liam knows that person is more outspoken than him and will directly intervene.
Distract: Liam starts asking the boyfriend questions about himself to strike up a different conversation.
Deliver: After the party, Liam asks Casey if her boyfriend is always like that and if she's doing okay.
Micah is at the park when he notices two girls from his school. He sees a man he doesn't know approach the girls, he isn't sure what's happening but notices the girls look frightened and uncomfortable. How can Micah Step In?
Direct: If it's safe to do so, Micah can tell the man to leave the girls alone.
Delegate: Micah might find someone nearby to ask for help or call 911 if needed.
Distract: Micah can approach the girls and strike up conversation with them to help them feel safer.
Deliver: Micah can approach the girls later on at school and ask if they're doing okay.
Alex sees his friend Chris repeatedly sending unwanted flirty texts and pictures to a girl in class, even though she's already told him she isn't interested. How can Alex Step In?
Direct: Alex talks to Chris about what he's doing and emphasizes the girl has said no. Alex reminds Chris it's not okay to pressure someone.
Delegate: Alex asks another friend if they've noticed Chris doing the same thing. Together Alex and a friend plan to do something with Chris after school to help him forget about the girl.
Distract: Alex asks Chris for help on the class assignment.
Deliver: Alex checks in with the girl and asks how she feels about the situation.
Matt's best friend, Craig, tells him that his girlfriend doesn't let him have any privacy online. Craig says his girlfriend has pressured him to give her the password to his phone and all his social media accounts. She even has his location and calls him repeatedly until he picks up whenever he's not at home or school. How can Matt Step In?
Direct: Matt talks to Craig about his girlfriend's behavior and expresses his concerns.
Delegate: Matt goes online to Love is Respect to research healthy relationships and learn more about how to support someone who may be in an abusive relationship.
Distract: Matt invites Craig to get ice cream so he can take his mind off what is happening with his girlfriend.
Deliver: Matt connects Craig to a resource about dating abuse, like Peace Over Violence.
Jessica and her friends are having their annual sleepover before the school year starts. When Amber shares that she identifies as bisexual, all the other girls start questioning Amber's sexuality and begin making offensive comments. How can Jessica Step In?
Direct: Jessica tells the girls to leave Amber alone and that it's not okay to question her sexuality.
Delegate: Jessica asks another friend to back her up in directly confronting the group.
Distract: Jessica shows the girls a new TikTok dance they should do together.
Deliver: Jessica texts Amber the next day after the sleepover and asks how she's doing.
Marcus is at the gym when he notices a group of guys his age harassing a girl he doesn’t know that is trying to workout. How can Marcus step in?
Direct: Marcus can tell the guys to leave her alone.
Delegate: Marcus can talk to one of the staff members at the gym and tell them what's going on.
Distract: Marcus can ask the girl to spot him or help show him to use some equipment.
Deliver: When the guys leave, Marcus can check in with the girl and ask if she's okay.
When Kaymen and Jamie are eating lunch, Jamie suddenly gets a notification on her phone that someone not in her contacts wants to Airdrop a photo. Without thinking, Jamie accepts the Airdrop request. When the photo is downloaded, Jamie realizes that the photo shows one of her classmate’s slightly undressed. How can Kaymen Step In?
Direct: Kaymen approaches the person who Airdropped the photo and lets them know that it's not okay to share photos of other people without their consent.
Delegate: Kaymen approaches a teacher or administrator and requests their help in addressing the situation.
Distract: Kaymen suggests to Jamie that they go to the student store for a snack to take attention away from the image that was shared.
Deliver: Kaymen approaches the student in the photo offering support, as well as letting them know about the resource TakeItDown if they are interested in keeping the photo from circulating online.
Logan, a nonbinary student, likes to post selfies of themselves on Instagram. Amy notices the same profile commenting on every one of Logan's pictures questioning their gender identity. How can Amy Step In?
Direct: Amy direct messages the commenter and lets them know that it's not okay to question someone else's gender identity and urges them to stop.
Delegate: Amy reports the bullying comments or commenter's profile to Instagram.
Distract: Amy leaves her own comment on Logan's photo complimenting or hyping them up.
Deliver: Amy checks in with Logan at school to remind them there is support available if they need anything and asks them how they are doing dealing with the hateful comments.
Sarah is at a party when she notices Mason sit next to a girl she doesn't recognize on the couch. Mason puts his arm around the girl, who then immediately tries to leave but Mason pulls her back down. The girl looks uncomfortable. How can Sarah Step In?
Direct: Sarah asks the girl if she wants to be talking to Mason and tells him to leave her alone.
Delegate: Sarah asks one of her male friends to intervene and pull Mason away.
Distract: Sarah goes up to Mason and asks him to come take a picture with her.
Deliver: As the party goes on, Sarah finds an opportunity to check in on the girl when she's alone and asks if she's okay.
Kim takes the public bus to school and notices Elena, a girl from her school on the bus one morning. Kim sees an older man stand very close to Elena. She moves away but the man keeps getting closer. How can Kim step in?
Direct: It might not be safe for Kim to directly confront the man for both her and Elena's safety.
Delegate: Kim tells the bus driver what's going on and asks for help.
Distract: Kim waves to Elena and asks if she wants to sit together.
Deliver: When they get off the bus, Kim asks Elena if she's okay and reminds her of counseling resources.
Olivia sees her friend, Maya, often skipping lunch to avoid sitting with her boyfriend, Todd. Todd tries to control what Maya eats by criticizing her body in front of others. During lunch, Olivia overhears Todd making jokes about Maya’s physical appearance. How can Olivia Step In?
Direct: When Todd starts making jokes or comments, Olivia tells him it's not right to treat Maya that way.
Delegate: Olivia asks one of Todds friends to distract him at lunch so he doesn't sit with them anymore.
Distract: Olivia asks Maya if she wants to eat lunch together separate from their normal group.
Deliver: Olivia asks Maya to hang out after school. She asks how she's doing and reminds Maya of resources like the school counselor or a support line.
Monica sees a group of classmates huddled around a phone and they seem to be watching a video from a party. As Monica gets a closer view of the video, she sees a girl she knows from school visibly drunk and being pressured into making out with someone. The video starts going viral at school after someone posts it on social media. How can Monica Step In?
Direct: Monica addresses the group and tells them that it's disrespectful to be watching the video and encourages them to consider if they would want other classmates watching a similar video of them.
Delegate: Monica talks to an administrator she trusts about the video and reports the video to the social media website it's posted on.
Distract: Monica tells the group that a nearby teacher is approaching them and suggests talking about their upcoming homework assignment.
Deliver: Monica talks to the girl in the video, lets her know about TakeItDown, and asks if there is anything else she can do to support.
Jason and his girlfriend have been together for a few months. At a party, Nate notices Jason is acting very controlling with his girlfriend. Jason grabs her by the arm and pulls her away when she's talking to someone or shoots her dirty looks when he sees her laughing with her friends. How can Nate Step In?
Direct: Nate tells Jason that he is acting very controlling and encourages Jason to give his girlfriend some space for the rest of the night.
Delegate: Nate asks one of their mutual friends about Jason's behavior and asks for advice on how to step in.
Distract: Nate tries to distract Jason throughout the night, inviting him to join a game that is going on in the other room and talking about his favorite sports team.
Deliver: The next day, Nate talks to Jason's girlfriend and lets her know that he is available to help if she needs anything.
At the mall, Sophia, a high school freshman, sees an older couple fighting. They look to be in their 20s and the man is screaming at his girlfriend and shoves her against a wall.
Direct: Sophia's safety comes first. Directly intervening might endanger her.
Delegate: Sophia can find a security guard or another adult for help. She can also dial 911.
Distract: Attempting to distract or insert herself into the situation might also put Sophia in danger.
Deliver: Sophia might not be able to connect with the woman as it may not be safe to stay in the area.