So often students are at ‘ground zero’ when it comes to bullying behavior in the schools, and when we teach students that they have the ability or opportunity, to take a stand on the spot against bullying we are also teaching them to stand up for themselves and their classmates.
So how then, do we empower students?
*Talk about the bystander effect: Bystanders are those who watch bullying happen or hear about it. Often times, bystanders will ignore the problem, walk away from a situation or even instigate and hence, escalate the conflict.
*Encourage students to become Upstanders instead of simply bystanders: An Upstander is the person who the person who knows what’s happening is wrong and does something to make things right.
*Encourage students to be persistent in getting help from adults. Many times a student will say that something is bothering them, without giving details or sharing facts, encourage our students to seek out adults and to tell them what is going on, who is being hurt and help them to feel like they can expect help on a resolution.