Three Strategies You Can Use to Help Empower Bystanders and Stop Bullying on your Campus

According to a Canadian study, it takes ten seconds to stop a bully. Can you guess how many people it takes to stop a bully in ten seconds? One! The study found that if even one student spoke up to express disapproval of the bullying incident, the bully typically stopped within ten seconds. 

Bullies gain power when no one challenges their behavior. An estimated 85 percent of bullying happens with other students watching. Bystanders often passively watch the incident or aggravate the problem by cheering on the behavior and/or joining in on the behavior. 

Here are three strategies you can use to help empower bystanders:

1:Role Play.
Role play incidents that can foster peer malice and then have a discussion about what a bystander should do to help the situation. 

• Stick to incidents that have happened on your campus. Create an assignment that asks students to anonymously write out situations they’ve witnessed on your campus. 
• Create actionable steps to help with empowering the person who is witnessing the event. 
• Discuss what the bystander should do if the situation starts to attract attention and a crowd is beginning to form. 
  
  

2: Classroom Discussions.
Start the discussions by asking open-ended questions and writing down the answers. Tackle each answer to find a solution that can cultivate kindness, foster friendships and build community. 

• Example questions: “What do girls do when they want to be mean to each other?” “What kinds of things do they say to each other?" “Why are girls mean to each other?” “What do boys do to be mean to each other?” “What kinds of things do boys say to each other?” “Why are boys mean to each other?” “What do boys and girls say to each other that is mean?” “What do boys and girls do to each other that is mean?” “Why do you think this happens?” “What are some ways we can stop these mean things from happening at our school?”
  
  

3: Empower Students.
Many schools have reduced bullying incidents by empowering their student leadership or advisory team to take on the issue of peer malice. Here are some ideas on how to utilize your student leaders or student advisory team:

• Give the entire student body a survey twice a year. Choose three to five topics and only ask two to three questions related to each topic. With this feedback, you are then able to tackle the issues that your students feel strongly about. Thus, ensuring their cooperation with improving your schools' climate. 
• Ask your student leadership team with the assistance of a teacher or a school counselor to brainstorm strategies to combat the issues on your campus.
• Annually develop a school creed or touchstone with your student leaders - make it lighthearted but powerful.
• Promote inclusivism - Create monthly or quarterly activities to involve the entire student body. For example, your student leadership team can host icebreaker events to mix up peer groups and debunk cliques. A top rated event for the young and old is a donut eating contest. A simple way to find a list of icebreakers is to Google it!
• Teach leadership skills to your student leaders. Reach out to parents or members in your community. Invite them to come and talk to your student leaders about what leadership means to them. 

Peer to peer teaching is extremely powerful and effective when it comes to changing school culture. Schools that take deliberate steps to create a caring community make lasting changes in the lives of their student and meet the deep human need to belong. Every school should strive to create a place where kindness and respect are the norms; where every student feels valued, cared for, and safe.