Jana’s Campaign, a national gender and relationship violence prevention organization, came to Hays High School on Oct. 5 and 6 to present Bystander Intervention Training to the freshman class. The presentation was led by Kaiti Blackburn, the executive director, and Evelyn Dubey, the Education & Prevention Specialist.
“I’m really glad to be a part of something this important,” Jana’s Campaign club president senior Morgan Engel said. “I know this presentation really helps get rid of the stigma behind domestic violence and teaches the students prevention methods, so I’m happy to be able to help with it.”
The presentation started with disclaimers about the content that would be focused on during the presentation to ensure that the students stayed respectful. Next a video discussing the history of Jana’s Campaign and about Jana Mackey followed. Mackey was a Hays High graduate who advocated for other women and dedicated her life to people who’ve endured domestic violence and sexual assault who ultimately died due to domestic violence to her ex-boyfriend.
The purpose of Jana’s Campaign is to do the most to prevent and reduce domestic violence on all genders, by losing the stigma and giving people the chance to voice what is happening to them.
“I think these kinds of things are important to know so it happens less,” freshman Tygh Jaeger said. “So we’re educated and understand how big of a problem this really is.”
23mtaggart@usd489.com