Literature Review: Behavioural Responses of Student Bystanders in Situations of Bullying

If you happen to be the bystander, your success comes from knowing not to get involved or not to get too involved, lest you yourself become an actual bully or a victim. You may even be blessed with the cherished gift of self-denial, and in such case, you are able to dismiss any vague notions that your inaction makes you complicit in the bully's trespass. Still you are human: you have an opinion, you have feelings about the matter. Maybe you sympathize with one of the sides. Maybe you wish you had the guts to be that way. Maybe you're just afraid you'll get hurt. Maybe you have something to lose; maybe that something is so valuable you're not willing to gamble it. Maybe you simply feel guilty for not getting involved. Or, maybe all you feel is relief -- relief that it's not you. Makes no difference, the bystander just stands there. Hence the name. Oh, you may be emotionally conflicted, but being a bystander is really the safest place to be. Consequently, bystanders often opt to remain bystanders.

People may not realize it, but bystanders play a huge role in bullying. By not stepping in or telling someone about it, they are making the problem worse. A bystander intervening could stop someone from getting hurt, and even prevent bullying from happening in the future. If a bystander does not say or do anything about it, they are contributing to the issue. There are more bystanders than there are bullies, so it is their choice to help or hurt the situation.

In the 1990s, a bully would normally brag about how he or she stole an individual’s lunch money, or how he or she blurted out an embarrassing rumor about the victim during class to his/her peers. In the 2010s, the bully will typically keep the bullying to themselves because in today’s society, people tend to care more about a bullying situation more than in the 1990s. Today, people hold fundraisers, do community speaking to raise awareness, and create a more disciplinary system at school and at home. A bystander in the 1990s would ignore the bullying situation that individual witnessed, and go on with their day like nothing happened. Bystanders in the 1990s, were not well aware of what the effects of bullying has on the victim; that is why a bystander never really bothered to report the bullying.

The bully is normally very well known; someone who is just as, if not more, guilty is nearly undetectable. This person is a bystander, and according to Tales of Bullying, being a bystander is just as bad as bullying. Bystanders just join in on the laughing. They don’t even help; they just watch bullying like it’s some sort of comedy show. Bystanders can also be people who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They can just as easily turn into a person who stands up to bullies, but they don’t. In the end bystanders are just as, if not more, guilty than the

According to Source 2, this usually happens when the bystanders stand by and watch. When they do this they are telling the bully that it's okay that they are doing this. They can make an audience for the bully. Sometimes they can even laugh and join in. This encourages the bully to keep hurting the victim in different ways. That is how bystanders can encourage the

Bullying is defined as the prolonged malicious act of harming peers by abusing their own--or an existing imbalance of--power, and has become one of the most common sources of trauma among adolescents. One report shows that one of three children were victims of bullying during some point in their life, and that 10-14% of all adolescents were victims of chronic bullying for at least six months prior to participating in the survey. Children who were victims of bullying are also found to be at a higher risk of diagnoses for anxiety disorders and depression during young and middle adulthood. These victims are reported to be more likely to have lower levels of general/physical health, and lower educational acquirements than young and middle-aged adults who were not bullied (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). Because bullying is such a prominent problem, citizens, policymakers, and social scientists alike, should feel or have some social and moral obligation to address, and hopefully avert bullying. The state of bullying, and how it is enacted, is constantly changing and adapting to social frameworks. Because bullies can adapt to social changes and regulations, we, as a society, should be equally adaptive in how we perceive, address, prevent, and punish bullying.

Chapter three - How people can prevent bullying from happening. What can you do if you are the Bystander?

In the book "Bystander", written by James Preller, it talks about not just the bully and victims but the other roles, such as Bystanders and allies. In chapter 20, a gathered group of boys discuss their responses to Griffin's unreasonable and illogical behavior. Their reasons for doing nothing include "The unreliability of authority figures to respond", "The threat of retaliation", "The victim, at least on some level, deserves it" , "It is human nature, the law of the jungle, and it will always persist", "It's better to stay out of it", "No one should rat out another student". These are ridiculous and absurd reason to be a bystander to such a unspeakable act. The main idea I would like to another reader to consider is advise others to not

That the need to fit in by participating doesn’t make them a bad person, that statement is of little consequence to the victims or their families. Excuses made by parents, bystanders, and the community no longer hold up in a legal setting. Hearing anti-bullying messages from the different adults in their lives can reinforce the message for kids that bullying is unacceptable. More than half of bullying situations (57%) stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied (Hawkins, Pepler, & Craig, 2001. Prevention is

It is also known that bystanders play an important role in encouraging or discouraging the bully. Bystanders can be "active" by laughing and cheering on

Those bystanders are horrible don’t be like them be the person that helps the kid and who takes up for the kid. Because when you just stand there you aren’t helping a thing. And bystanders laugh along so they won’t just be standing there and when they do something they get attention. Being a bystander is worse because you have no reason to be bullying the kid the bully’s normally

Today's world is full of mean bullies and rejecting bystanders. Both groups are terrible to encounter, but have you ever wondered which one is worse? I have also asked that same question. Then, I did much research over the past few weeks on the topic. Finally, I have come to a conclusion. Being a bully is worse than being a bystander because if there were no bullies, there would be no bystanders, there is lots of guilt for the bully, they target certain kids, and they are the main cause for suicide.

Bystanders, in bullying cases, often claim innocence. After all, they had no active role, so why should they face punishment? It is easy to connect the bully’s actions to

However, teachers are not the only ones helping the victims. Several research studies have looked at the role of bystanders in bullying students. Teachers and students who witness bullying can work together to reduce bullying in schools and classrooms. But there is also evidence that those who were bystanders were not willing to help the victims (Espelage, Green, & Polanin, 2012). Students often do not support victims when there are multiple witnesses (Salmicalli, 2010). Students expect someone else to intervene or ignore the victim or may consider the bullying to be a joke ( Terasahjo & Salmivalli, 2003). Consequently, bullied victims feel that they are not only suffering pain from being bullied, but also from being ignored by peers (Salmavalli & Poskirparta, 2012).

In Chapters Three and Four of The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystanders, internationally recognized speaker and author, Barbara Coloroso (2010), explored the roles of the bullied and the bystanders when bullying occurs.. In Chapter Three, she smashed any stereotypes of bullied children as being weak, a loser, or as having somehow “asked” to be bullied (p. 41). She clearly established that any child can be a target (pp.42-43) and explained how shame can prevent a child from asking for help (pp. 47-49). Then she outlined warning signs of a child who is being bullied and factors that play into “bullycide” or violence (pp. 49-61). Meanwhile in Chapter Four, she emphasized the important role that the bystanders play in bullying. She noted that