Why bystanders are bullies

The result is indecisiveness, which leads to feeling out of control and produces high levels of stress and anxiety for the bystander. Bystanders also can develop anxiety about bullying.

This anxiety also can lead the bystander to worry about safety and security at school. These concerns then make concentration difficult. Bystanders sometimes are so overcome by anxiety that they avoid the areas where bullying occurs. They also may avoid social events and other activities due to anxiety about bullying. Sometimes, in an attempt to cope with anxiety and to avoid becoming targets, bystanders may join cliques or succumb to peer pressure. Bystanders may even become bullies just to avoid being bullied themselves.

Watching another person suffer is never easy. But it can be difficult to know what to do. If your child frequently witnesses bullying at school, it is important that you equip them with the tools they need to report bullying. In fact, all teens should know what to do if they witnesses bullying at their school or in their community.

By empowering your teen to help, instead of standing by and watching, you are helping put an end to the bullying. Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. Witnessing workplace bullying and employee well-being: A two-wave field study. J Occup Health Psychol. Observing bullying at school: The mental health implications of witness status. Sch Psychol Q. Latane B, Darley JM. The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn't he help? New York: Appleton-Century Crofts; Bystander motivation in bullying incidents: to intervene or not to intervene?

Sharing or liking a mean post on Instagram or Snapchat actually makes the situation worse. Cyber-bystanders can be with the person being cyber-bullied when they receive a mean message or read a mean post about themselves. Cyber-bystanders can show their support to the person being bullied by posting something nice about them online or sending them a friendly message.

Ditch the excuses No doubt it can be hard to know what to do when you see someone else getting bullied. What can I do now? If you're not sure if what you're witnessing is bullying or teasing, we spell it out for you here. Remember that bullying will usually stop within minutes of a bystander or a friend stepping up and getting involved?

This video runs through how you can stop bullying in its tracks. A supportive bystander will take action to protect the rights of others. If bystanders are confident to take safe and effective action to support victims then there is a greater possibility that bullying can stop and the person who is bullied can recover. People respect those that stand up for others who are bullied but being a supportive bystander can be tough.

Sometimes it is not easy to work out how to help safely because bullying happens in different ways and places such as online, at work or school. There is no one size fits all approach to being a supportive bystander. Cyberbullying has also been linked to psychological problems.

Kids who have been cyberbullied reported higher levels of depression and thoughts of suicide, as well as greater emotional distress, hostility, and delinquency compared with peers who were not. While bullying can lead to psychological problems, kids who have mental health concerns to begin with are also more likely to be bullied. Therefore, this is a complex cycle that is not easy to study and understand. Some reasons bystanders do not intervene or respond to the bullying include:.

Bystanders do intervene or defend the targets of bullying because they:. Bystanders can take positive actions to prevent bullying and to address it while it is happening or after it occurs.