Do you know what your children would do if they were to witness a bullying incident? Would they speak up, intervene, join in, turn away or go and get help? Have you ever asked them?
When we talk about bullying we usually concentrate on the bully and the victim. We talk about why the bully feels the need to torment another. We talk about what the victim should do in response to the bullying. We talk about what we, as parents need to say to our children should they be the victim or the bully.
The most important help or protagonist to any bullying situation however, can actually lie with the bystander. If we as a society are to eradicate bullying, we need to make it absolutely and unconditionally unacceptable. To do so we need to create a culture whereby a bully is the minority and that all those that are witness, refuse to accept.
There are 2 ways a bystander can respond to a bullying incident.
- An unhelpful/ negative response:
- Encourage the bully by laughing, jeering & helping to instigate the torment or
- Stand by watching, accepting and doing nothing [Read more...]
