October is National Bullying Prevention Month and Sarah Msall, counselor at Pea Ridge Junior High, presented a program to students to teach ways to combat bullying.
A recent incident at the school in which a student was injured and several other students videotaped the incident resulted in the expulsion of the perpetrator and several teaching opportunities for the bystanders.
Junior High principal Beth Stein, during a recently expulsion hearing, said it is vital that students be taught how to handle the situations surrounding bullying.
Some of the goals being taught by Msall include teaching students they can apply conflict-resolution skills to de-escalate, defuse and resolve differences; they can listen to and acknowledge another person's perspective and rationale; and they can analyze the effects of taking action to oppose bullying based on individual and group differences.
According to Msall's presentation, a bystander is someone who watches bullying happen or hear about it and who can either contribute to the problem or the solution by rarely play a completely neutral role. They statistics she shared state that bystanders are present during 80% of the bullying incidents and when they intervene to become "upstanders," bullying is more likely to stop.
"When bystanders do not intervene, the target is more likely to feel isolated, disliked and undeserving of help," the presentation stated.
Several different roles are possible for bystanders with three being hurtful and only one being helpful. An outsider witnesses the bullying situation, stays out of it and does not get involved. A reinforcer supports the bully or bullying behavior by laughing, encouraging or cheering before or after the incident. An assistant helps the individual doing the bullying and joins in and may even restrain the target or block them from getting away. A defender helps by intervening when the bullying occurs, extends support to the person being bullied and takes action to address the bullying.
Bystanders have many reasons to avoid intervening including fear of retaliation and being bullied, fear of losing their social status, not being friends with the target or victim, lacking knowledge about the incident, lack of belief that teachers will do anything about it and believe adults will make the bullying worse
Some bystanders will intervene if they are friends with the target, believe bullying is wrong, consider how dangerous or serious the behavior is, view the target as innocent, have empathy and sympathy for the target and believe teachers or school staff will appropriately address bullying.
According to Msall, an upstander is someone who recognizes when something is wrong and acts to make it right; sees or hears about someone being bullied and speaks up and is just like being a hero.
The qualities of an upstander are being courageous, action-oriented, assertive, compassionate and a leader. One can become an upstander by telling the perpetrator to stop, getting others to stand up, too, helping the victim, shifting the focus and redirecting the perpetrator away from the victim and telling and adult who can help.
Several steps of action were recommended including evaluating the problem, assuming responsibility for intervening, knowing how to approach the situation and then distracting, delegating, questioning, defending and documenting the situation.
Msall shared several resources including Stopbullying.gov; the American Psychological Association; and the American School Counselor Association.