Many schools provide support for students who are being bullied or discipline for those who bully but limit their outreach to these two groups. An often overlooked audience is the students who witness bullying—the peer bystanders. Because they make up the majority, they can be influential in changing the social climate of a school.

There are three reasons according to Stan Davis, author of Empowering Bystanders in Bullying Prevention:

• Peer bystanders, more than adults, are in a unique situation to send targets of bullying the crucial message that it is not their fault and nothing is “wrong” with them.
   
• Bystanders can provide support for youth who bully others by having a positive impact as well-behaved, well-respected peers who want to connect with them.
   
• Bystanders can be personally affected by witnessing bullying—with guilt the result of inaction and confirmation of capability the result of action. This teaches an important lesson, which will hopefully lead them students to act positively and effectively in the future.

To empower bystanders, acknowledge that it might be easier to stand by and watch (or try to ignore the bullying), but “we all need help sometimes.” Ask them to think how they might feel if they were being bullied. Then, share and discuss the following action items with your students in a classroom meeting.

Report the bullying to an adult. Many kids who are bullied are scared to tell an adult about it (especially a teacher or principal) because they are afraid the person bullying them will find out and the bullying will get worse. That's where you can help. Either go along with your classmate who is bullied to tell a teacher, school counselor, school nurse, or coach at school or tell on their behalf. You should also both tell an adult at home. Explain exactly what happened—who was bullied, who did the bullying and when and where it occurred. Remember that bullying isn’t just hitting or name-calling. It could be spreading false rumors about someone or excluding them to hurt their feelings.

Support someone who is being bullied. Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone who is being bullied is to be a friend. This might mean walking home with them after school, sitting with them on the bus or at lunch, trying to include them in your school or social activities or just listening if they want to talk about the situation. These may seem like small things to you, but they will show a kid who is being bullied that someone cares and that is a very big thing to them!

Approach the person doing the bullying. If you feel safe doing this, tell a person who is bullying that what he or she is doing is wrong and that he or she should stop. You may even ask them why they bully and offer your friendship if they stop. Sometimes bullies are actually looking for new friends.

Adapted from HRSA’s Stop Bullying Now!