Dr, Ken Rigby, an authority on bullying and peer victimization, believes one of the ways in which school bullying can be reduced is by inducing children who observe bullying taking place at school to discourage it by the way they act. He believes it is a promising strategy for several of the following reasons:
1. Most bullying takes place when bystanders are present
2. When a bystander acts to discourage bullying there is a good chance (50%) the bullying will stop
3. Teachers and parents typically are not present nor are told about the bullying, so do not have the opportunity to take action.
4. A large proportion of children would like to see bullying stopped
Dr. Rigby believes that a good starting point for promoting positive bystander action by children lies in teachers and parents seeking to understand bystander situations from the children’s point of view and facilitating informed discussions about what they think should be done and how.
In these discussions teachers and parents can empower children in situations where they witness bullying or are being bullied. When the children have talked about bullying and being bullied, have some knowledge of bullies and their behaviors, and have possible responses for these situations, they are more confident and make better decisions.
Ways we can empower children to action when they are bystanders are:
• Help them see that their silence makes aggressive students more powerful and contributes to the harm done to the target
• Model positive behavior for them through our own actions
• Protect them from retaliation
• Discourage them from confronting aggressive youth directly about their behavior in most situations, but instead, help them find a wide range of safer and more effective interventions to use
• Encourage them to tell adults about the cruel behavior they see
• Help them find ways to reach out in friendship to targets of bullying and isolated peers
Ways we can empower children who are targets for bullies are:
• Mentor them and connect with them
• Increase supervision to protect them from future verbal and physical aggression and make sure adults welcome and act on their reports of future bad treatment
• Help them develop an answer to the question: “Why did he/she do that to me?” It should not be one that encourages them to blame themselves. One such answer is “ Some people like to being mean to others.”
• Involve them in expressive education/therapy where they can act, write, draw, and talk about their experiences
• Help they get support from others with similar histories
• Help them connect with a network of peer support and friendship
These things can be done in classroom meetings, school assemblies, and conversations with individuals. Parent can play a major role as they listen to and discuss these things with their children'
http://www.stopbullyingnow.com/bystanders.htm
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