The Power of the Bystander

As the new school year begins, there are many students who start with great confidence; others are more apprehensive as a result of previous experiences. For some young people, we know that coming back to school can cause a great deal of anxiety. What will their new homeroom be like? Will they be able to make friends? Will they be able to cope with their work? Will they have to deal with being bullied?

How can we help these students? Let’s focus on bullying as it is an issue that we need to be continually working on. Often students are standing by watching incidents happen, perhaps feeling sorry for the young person who is being bullied but not sure what to do, or not wanting to step in for fear that they themselves will become the target. Students need to know that as a bystander, they can make a difference when it comes to dealing with bullying.

So what can you do if you are a bystander?

Ask the student to sit with you, rather than sit alone in the classroom, or on the bus, etc. Don’t stand and laugh when you see a student being bullied, go and find a teacher who can help.

If you are with a group, watching it happening, tell the bully to stop.

Phrases which may help, ‘Cut it out’ ‘Leave her alone’

‘That’s really unfair ‘You’re being mean’ ‘How would you like someone to do that to you?’

If you see a student who is alone and is often a target of bullies, encourage the person to join your group for that lunchtime.

Go with the student to talk to a teacher about the issue.

Invite the student to go with you to a safe place – the library, or an area near the staff room.

Find an older student, such as a Peer Support Leader and ask for help.  

These are just a few ideas that you can pass onto your students or put up in the homeroom. As we empower students to help and care for one another and to say ‘NO’ to bullying, we are moving our schools toward being safer places.