Helpful Bystander Research Paper

Have you ever wished that there was something that you could do about the increasing rate of bullying in both schools and workplaces? Well, the time to act is clearly now, based on the results found by a study conducted by the anti-bullying organisation known as eyes on bullying indicating that the most important role in preventing bullying is the bystander. This study has shown that 80% of the time, the intervention of a single bystander stops the incident within ten seconds. The actions that someone witnessing a bullying situation dictates whether they are a hurtful bystander that instigates the situation, or a helpful bystander that ends it.
A bystander that causes a negative effect in a bullying situation is known as a hurtful bystander. A hurtful bystander can range from someone who encourages the bully to someone who just witnesses bullying without acting. The …show more content…
A helpful bystander is someone who intervenes with a bullying situation, whether directly, or through means such as subject changing. Although the intervention of a helpful bystander is very uncommon, in the instances where this does occur, the positive effects are phenomenal, as shown by Doctor Ken Rigby. While hurtful bystanders can often end up feeling guilty or fearful, a helpful bystander not only has no feelings of guilt, but can also feel pride in having helped someone.
While the actions of a hurtful bystander will always escalate a situation, the intervention of a helpful bystander stops most cases within ten seconds. With the frequency of bullying incidents on a steep incline, the necessity of action has never been greater, and if everyone acted as a helpful bystander, we could put a stop to this trend. So teach your children about the effects of a bystander, and always act as a helpful bystander. There has never been a more important time to act on bullying than now, so what type of bystander are