Research Shows People Need To Intervene To Stop Bullies

Many students are still unsure what exactly they should do when faced with a bullying situation.

“When I see bullying happen, I just start feeling upset for the victim and feel useless that I can’t help them,” junior Ruth Escobar said. “Or that whatever I might do probably won’t be effective.”

According to stopbullying.gov, research shows that bystanders should stop the bullying immediately, and then take the victim to a teacher or counselor right away. They should not only stand there and refuse to step up. They need to notify the authority figures as soon as possible.

“It just upsets me that someone can get bullied just for being them or simply doing nothing,” Escobar said. “I feel sympathetic for them and hope that everything turns out alright.”

Many students have expressed that usually they just walk away instead of helping. Others said that they wait, and then ask the victim afterwards if they need to be escorted to a teacher or the counselors.

“I haven’t witnessed a lot of bullying in high school so far, but when I do, I wait for most people to leave and then go up to the person being bullied and ask if they need me to get a teacher or something,” junior Julia Hairston said.