Background:

Bullying is all-too common.  In Canada, about 1/3 of students have been bullied at school, and most students have witnessed bullying1. Of course, bullying can have an extremely negative impact on the student who is bullied, but there can also be a negative impact on witnesses, leaving them feeling helpless and afraid2.  Many people want to take action to stop bullying when they witness it occurring, but it can be extremely hard to do.  Research has shown that only 10-25% of students who witness bullying actually take action to stop it, even though the vast majority of bullying episodes are seen by multiple witnesses3,4.

Silent bystanders create a climate in which bullying is acceptable because no one will stop it.  Witness action is extremely important. It can be quite successful in stopping bullying3 and is the considered by students to be less risky for the target of bullying5. The action of witnesses is needed not only to stop bullying, but to impact a school’s attitude toward bullying, and to prove that individuals do not have to stand by and watch violence.

How the research was done:

This research was qualitative, meaning that the goal was to explore the meaning of an experience, rather than to count how many people experienced something. To do this, nine students who had taken action to stop bullying in school were carefully chosen. With a parent's permission, the students were all interviewed by the researcher. Interviews lasted between 60-90 minutes and audio-recorded. The researcher then listened to the interviews many times, writing down everything that was said and grouping ideas together into categories and themes. The researcher also created the five stories on this website, based on the experiences of five of the participants.

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1 O’Connell, P., Pepler, D. & Craig, W. (1999). Peer involvement in bullying: Insights and challenges for intervention [Electronic version]. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 437-452.
2 Jeffrey, L. R., Miller, D., Linn, M. (2001). Middle school bullying as a context for the development of passive observers to the victimization of others. In R. A. Geffner, M. Loring & C. Young (Eds.) Bullying behavior: Current issues, research, and interventions. (pp. 143-156). New York: Haworth.
3 Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying [Electronic version]. Social Development, 10, 512-527.
4 Atlas, R., & Pepler, D. (1998). Observations of bullying in the classroom. Journal of Educational Research, 92, 1-86.
5 Righby, K. & Bagshaw, D. (2003). Prospects of adolescent students collaborating with teachers in addressing issues of bullying and conflict in schools [Electronic version]. Educational Psychology, 23, 535-546.

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