How do we make a difference when we see bullying happening?

Research finds that 81% of bullying takes part in the presence of / with the participation of observers or peers present. Bystanders intervened only 19% of the time, but when they did, bullying and harassment stopped 57% of the time. Bystanders can leverage their positions of power to stop & disrupt bullying even while it is ongoing, and help the bullied person recover.

Influencing friends and social networks actively to stop bullying, actively rejecting bullying behavior, and reaching out & supporting victims who are being boycotted could be ways of leading the charge against this problem. While we are silent and inactive, as bystanders, we do need to wonder whether our social media messaging, social networks, entertainment choices, & friend groups are in fact making us into bullies —keeping us silent under the guise of neutrality.

Perhaps on this one, we take a leap and go old-school—nothing fancy or technical: bystanders simply introspect and show compassion to all sorts of people, especially those who are wonderfully different from us.