The Power of Bystanders

All children reach an important milestone at the young age of five. They enter kindergarten! Excitement and laughter take over the classroom on the first day of school. As the year progresses and children settle down, many of them face a challenging problem they need to overcome - bullying.

Nearly one in four students report being bullied in the last year. Regrettably, 85% of these bullying incidents have bystanders. What does it mean to be a bystander? A bystander is an individual who is present or witnesses an event but does not participate. Given that this takes place at school, this could mean that a child can be bullied and have witnesses, with none of those witnesses standing up for them. However, not all bystanders have a neutral stance as such. In fact, bystanders can escalate the situation even more, especially if they choose to take the bully’s side by laughing at the incident. This encourages the bully to continue bullying other children because it makes them feel entitled and in power.

It might be easy to overlook a bullying incident as a joke and it can be difficult and intimidating for bystanding children to stand up to the bully or bullies. Bystanders need to become supportive bystanders. Supportive bystanders step in to take action and de-escalate the situation by protecting the individual who is bullied.

Here are some tips to become supportive bystanders:

Do not take part in actions that will empower the bully. Laughing at the situation and ignoring the situation are both examples of actions that will empower a bully.

Do not spread rumors or gossip about the situation that was witnessed. Spreading rumors and gossiping puts the individual who is being bullied in a vulnerable position. In turn, bullies may react more severely not only to the individual they already bullied, but to the bystander and other individuals as well.

Give support to the individual who is being bullied. You can give social support by lending a shoulder to cry on or even being a person they can vent to. Getting a trusted adult, such as a teacher or counselor, can quickly de-escalate the situation if the bullied individual has not done so already. This is especially helpful when the bullied individual is afraid of stating their situation to an adult. You can be the person that provides this crucial social support.

The course of action that a bystander takes can turn the situation around for the entire situation.

Your helping hand can mean the world to someone else, so let’s make the world a better place by

eliminating bullying! Remember, your actions speak louder than words.