Our recent two-part Active Bystander Training was well-received by students. Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this possible.
Stay tuned for future events.
More about the Training Workshop
This is an interactive, introductory skill building and instructional workshop (not lecture) on how to be an empowered active bystander. Participants will practice new and different approaches to responding effectively to everyday bigotry or public attacks, how to enlist allies, and when and how to have a productive dialogue.
From the Hopkinton Independent
“I think the perspective that I bring to this a lot of young people feel that, when it comes to issues of diversity and inclusion, the generations above us aren’t necessarily as aware or engaged,” Proudman said. “To be honest, I really don’t think that’s the case. I think that while young voices might often be the leaders of some of these movements, I think our active bystander training event showed that people of older generations are really waking up and are just as much a part of this movement for greater inclusivity as us young people are.”
From HCAM Studios
Learn more about HFT's Active Bystander Training from HCAM's Hangout hour
What previous attendees have said about this training
What the Youth who took this training have said...
"It introduced me to a method of speaking out that I wouldn't have otherwise found or used. I am not afraid of being confrontational so I will often call people out but the steps of empathizing were something new to me that I think will make a big difference in the outcomes of my conversations."
"I was pushed out of my comfort zone and learned a lot of good tactics for hard situations."
What one of the Hopkinton attendees who took this training have said...
"The Upstander Training provided by True Story Theater has been worth every minute, every dollar and every role-play/dialogue exercise (and I am admittedly not partial to role-play.) I strongly believe that this training is incredibly important in these times for learning how to assist and stand up as an ally for/with those being disrespected or discriminated against or harmed by others whether this happens in a family conversation, in a group gathering or when passing someone by on the street. Furthermore, this training also teaches important skills for finding common ground and learning how to respectfully listen and have thoughtful conversations with one another so that we all can benefit from what might bring people closer together and be more caring for one another as well. This is exactly the training we all need to be learning and rehearsing in our hope for co-creating a more peaceful, united and love-minded world for ourselves, our children and our future generations."
-Cheryl Perreault
“It was extremely helpful to tackle real and specific challenges we are all facing in Hopkinton. I definitely feel like I already got some tools from the first exercise about stopping and calling out offensive comments. They came naturally when we were in the later exercise, which was great.”
-Anonymous attendee
“In some ways, [the Zoom setting] makes everyone equal. There is no feeling like an outsider if you arrive to training and groups of people are milling about talking and you don't feel like you have a pre-established place to mingle. It also strips away some of our external differences, as there is less focus on how we look, dress, etc. and more focus on how we think and who we are as people. Maybe I've forgotten what real in person events are like, but I think the virtual experience was effective since all were engaged and ‘eyes on screen.’"
-Anonymous attendee
“Please offer more opportunities. We could have done this all day and it would have flown by. Thank you!”
-Anonymous attendee
Please email us at info@hopkintonfreedomteam.org if you have any questions