Distracted Driving Awareness Month: April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines distracted driving as "any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system - anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving."
National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW): April 8-14, 2018: NCVRW creates an opportunity to learn about victimization; the effect victimization has on individuals, families, friends, and the communities; and to promote laws, policies, and programs to help victims of crime. This year NCVRW will be commemorated April 8-14, 2018 and the theme, Expand the Circle: Reach All Victims, emphasizes the importance of inclusion in victim services.
Furthering Police-Community Relations: Relationships of mutual trust between police agencies and the communities they serve, on and off campus, are critical to maintaining public safety and effective policing. Police officials rely on the cooperation of community members to provide information about crime in their neighborhoods and to work collaboratively to devise solutions. Similarly, community members' willingness to trust the police depends on whether they believe that police actions reflect community values.
2018 Resources for Sexual Assault Awareness Month: April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has new materials to support your campuses' 2018 campaign.
Recognizing the Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder: April is National Autism Awareness Month. Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, speech and nonverbal communication, repetitive behaviors, as well as by unique strengths and differences. We now know that there is not one autism but many types, caused by different combinations of genetic and environmental influences.
Be Prepared for Hazardous Weather Year-Round: The National Weather Service wants you to be prepared for hazardous weather year-round and they've replaced their national safety awareness weeks with a year-round approach because bad weather can happen anytime - winter, spring, summer, or fall!
LIVERESPECT on Campus: A Call to Men launched LIVERESPECT on Campus, an "on-campus movement for college students who want to promote healthy, respectful manhood and prevent dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, bullying and all forms of violence and discrimination."
Carbon Monoxide Safety: According to data published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning was the second most common non-medicinal poisonings death between 1999-2012. CO incidents affect campus communities with reports of illness and deaths happening both on and off campus.
Street Harassment: Because street harassment is often dismissed as harmless, it is important to acknowledge it for what it is: a human rights violation and a form of gender violence. Street harassment also often connects with sexual and domestic violence, racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, transphobia, reproductive injustice, Islamophobia, and other forms of oppressions.