The Importance of Bystander Power

Disturbing bullying reports can be used to teach kids about bystander intervention, advocates say Advocates say shocking new videos showing extreme bullying offer parents and educators an opportunity to teach young witnesses the importance of bystander intervention. "Targeting behavioural change from the bully is not as effective as targeting the bystander to make a culture shift," said Gordana Skrba of the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy. A video posted Nov. 8 showed a 14-year-old Nova Scotia boy with cerebral palsy lying down in a stream as a girl steps on his back. About 20 students were watching, some filming on their phones. Then came last week's news about two videotaped incidents at St. Michael's College School in Toronto. The murder of "Kitty" Genovese that led to the Bystander Effect & the 911 system Catherine “Kitty” Genovese was a 28-year-old woman who was brutally murdered outside of her Queens apartment in New York City on March 13, 1964. Genovese’s attack lasted around 30 minutes as she was stabbed 14 times by a man named Winston Moseley. It was originally reported that there were 38 bystanders who turned their back on Genovese’s early morning cries for help, shutting their doors to silence her screams.

Bystanders to Bullying Someone who witnesses bullying, either in person or online, is a bystander. Friends, students, peers, teachers, school staff, parents, coaches, and other youth-serving adults can be bystanders. With cyberbullying, even strangers can be bystanders. Youth involved in bullying play many different roles. Witnessing bullying is upsetting and affects the bystander, too. Bystanders have the potential to make a positive difference in a bullying situation by becoming an upstander. How to Overcome the Bystander Effect Psychologists have long been interested in exactly why and when we help other people. There has also been a tremendous amount of interest in the reasons why we sometimes don't help others. The bystander effect is a social phenomenon that occurs when people fail to help those in need due to the presence of other people. In many cases, people feel that since there are other people around, surely someone else will leap into action.1

Addressing Bullying: Teaching Children to Be Active Bystanders - Committee for Children Bullying negatively affects all children socially, emotionally, and academically, whether they’re victims, offenders, or bystanders. These small moments in one’s childhood may sound trivial, but the lasting effects for those who have been bullied can be as severe as developing an anxiety or depressive disorder. Addressing bullying has less to do with the person who’s bullying and more to do with those who observe it, whether in the classroom, a social setting, or online. In one study, 85% of children interviewed reported that they’ve witnessed bullying in their school environment.1 Bystanders have the power to significantly reduce unwanted, ongoing, and aggressive actions directed toward another person or group of people. By intervening nonaggressively in the first few seconds, bystanders can reduce bullying by at least 78%.

Reducing the Bystander Effect As discussed, there are a number of factors that magnify the Bystander Effect. Fortunately, there are also a number of factors that weaken it. Once again, factors can be divided into characteristics of the situation, and of the people. Situational characteristics My colleague was harassed by a male passenger on the MRT and nobody helped. Here's what I'd have done. - The Pride What would you do if you were a female passenger on the MRT and a male passenger started harassing you? A lovely, young female colleague of mine had that frightening experience last week. While watching a movie on her smartphone... What would you do if you were a female passenger on the MRT and a male passenger started harassing you?

Bystander Intervention Resources Bystander Intervention Training Hollaback! provides trainings on how to do your part to protect your neighbors and co-workers when bias and harassment collide in front of you. What’s worse than being targeted with harassment because of your race, sex, religion, color, gender, size, orientation, disability, age, or origin? Being targeted while surrounded by bystanders who see what is happening, but then do nothing. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Alan Berkowitz, Ph.D. In these clips I share stories of myself as a bystander and how I responded, along with advice for intervening successfully. "I was taught to confront bad behavior pretty aggressively. (Call someone out.) It was never well received and was totally ineffective. It also disrespected the humanity of the other person. Training In addition to the ADVANCEGeo Partnership's bystander intervention workshops, this page contains a compilation of common training programs on bystander intervention and other strategies to address harassment, sexual violence, and bias. Bystander intervention training Hollaback! Online Training Hollaback!'

She was hurt and bleeding in the MRT – then a kind stranger defied the bystander effect to help - The Pride She was once on the train when she saw a girl in a different compartment faint. When no one – not even those in the girl’s immediate vicinity – helped the girl, she decided she could no longer remain a... She was once on the train when she saw a girl in a different compartment faint. When no one – not even those in the girl’s immediate vicinity – helped the girl, she decided she could no longer remain a bystander. She went to the girl’s aid and even stayed with her until the paramedics arrived.