The Prevention Education team focuses on solving problems before they begin.
We educate young people in our community about interpersonal and sexual violence, but we don’t stop there. What truly prevents sexual violence is equipping young people with skills to alter rape culture, foster their self-confidence, and teach them that relationships are rooted in respect and equality. We hope that young people will leave our programs with additional skills and deeper understanding, not a list of things they shouldn’t do.
And so too, with New Year’s resolutions.
Oftentimes, New Year’s resolutions emphasize things we want to remove or take away from our lives: Lose 20 pounds, quit complaining, stop eating donuts, spend less money. Although these resolutions may lead to positive changes, they can also set us up for failure.
This year, the prevention team encourages you to consider what you may want to add to your life to enrich it. Draw on your own strengths to determine what goals you would like to tackle in 2018. By focusing on positive things to add to your life, you may be more likely to stick to your resolutions.
For example, don’t stop eating donuts.Try eating one serving a fruit each day. The act of incorporating healthier and positive behaviors into our lives often decreases our negative habits.
This year, SAVA’s prevention team created new year’s resolutions that will enrich our programs and personal lives. Check out our three resolutions below:
Maintain our programs and progress from 2017.
One of the Prevention Team’s top priorities is maintaining our programs at the schools we currently work with. Prevention Education programs have expanded rapidly in 2017, and we want to continue fostering high quality programming before we focus on further expansion. It may seem silly to set a goal to “keep doing what you’re doing,” but it’s important to acknowledge what we’ve done well and make efforts to build on current relationships with Weld County and Larimer County schools.
- Create a self-care plan.
The work we do at SAVA can be hard on our bodies, mental health, and relationships. Each of us on SAVA’s staff has committed to creating individual self-care plans to help us manage the stress and emotional strain of our work. We’ve also decided to share that plan with our team so that our colleagues can support us in taking care of ourselves.
Do you have a self-care plan in place? Think about what helps you unwind and de-stress, and make a list. Refer to that list when you get stressed.You may want to share these ideas with your loved ones so that they can remind you to care for yourself. Self-love can go a long way!
- Improve the inclusivity of our programs.
SAVA ensures that our programs and services are inclusive to all those who are impacted by sexual violence. For the prevention team, this means the language we use and examples we give represent the diverse populations we work with and depict a variety of experiences of sexual violence. We are continually striving to be more inclusive in all we do, both personally and professionally. Are there areas of your life where you could be more welcoming? Do you notice the inclusivity or exclusivity of the language you use? Is there room at your holiday table for those who might be alone or ostracized from their own families? Let’s all work to be more welcoming and inclusive in 2018!
We hope these ideas help get you started with your own New Year’s resolutions.
Happy New Year from SAVA’s Prevention Team!