Imagine as a student it is your first day at school or college, and you went there hoping to make beautiful memories. You are full of expectations, but sadly, they get shattered the moment you witness someone being bullied.
In such circumstances, even if you are not the ‘target’ of bullying, your mind will have a negative impact. As a result, you will constantly fear being the next target.
So, what is the best way to overcome such fear?
To overcome fear and prevent the trauma, try to become an upstander. By being an upstander, you will be able to stand up for the target and stop the bully.
Such an act of yours will not only empower you but others too. Hence, students should try to be upstanders.
Here are some ways to empower students to be upstanders and prevent bullying.
1. Educational Awareness
A student should have a goal to be a better person than a bystander who ignores bullying behavior. Upstander means standing up for the target of bullying behavior. So, teachers should teach the students about the concept of upstanders.
Upstanders can be made by different approaches. The students should be taught the importance of it, in a way that it gets instilled in their minds. Educational programs are essential for spreading awareness against bullying.
The impact of bullying can be severe; it does not end with physical distress but leads to emotional harm, too. Hence, it is crucial for teachers to organize programs like campaigns and other activities to discuss the forms of bullying and its impact.
It will help the students recognize any future bullying behavior and take the necessary actions.
2. Understanding the Need of Upstanders
The bystanders give rise to the chances of bullying. When the bully becomes fearless of not being able to be defeated or challenged, it leads to a bullying culture.
So, to prevent bullying, upstanders are needed. Upstanders can give courage to the bystanders to help the target instead of just witnessing the scene.
If a student has support from other students, it helps them to become more courageous to prevent bullying behavior. An upstander is needed to empower others to support and protect the target of the bully.
3. Developing Emotional and Social Skills
If the students can recognize the behavioral pattern of others, it will become a helpful tool for them. Observing human behavior can be helpful for the students to identify bullying behavior.
It helps them to resolve any conflicts and show support and concern for each other. Hence, developing emotional and social skills involves enhancing their empathy and communication skills.
Such a method also tries to introduce them to assertive training, i.e., encouraging them to be self-confident and bold. Being communicative also develops leadership and confidence in the students.
For situations like bullying, being self-confident helps them to feel strong enough to support the targeted person. In these moments, being an upstander empowers them to challenge the bully.
4. Encouraging Support System
When a student wants to report a bullying incident but feels unsure of it being heard, it leads to more bullying. As an upstander, a student also needs the administration’s support system.
If the support is not encouraged by the authorities, students will feel hesitant to report or take any action towards bullying. So, to prevent the students from being hesitant in becoming upstanders, a supportive environment should be created.
If the authorities encourage the students to speak up, it will give them more strength to stand up against bullying. Therefore, the actions taken by the administration in bullying incidents play a big role.
The support from the authorities also decreases the chances of bullying due to fear of being punished.
5. Positive Influence
As school is a form of social circle, a student will be highly influenced by his peers. The influence on a student should be favorable to becoming an upstander and preventing bullying.
Interaction with their peers influences behavior patterns in students. It plays a significant role, as encouraging positivity through peer norms is an effective method.
This method helps to promote leadership values and roles to promote upstander motives among students. Activities like student councils, anti-bullying clubs, etc., empower students to take the initiative of becoming upstanders, leading to a safe and respectful culture in school.
6. Safe Environment
After a bullying incident, a student may not even want to go to school anymore, which affects their studies, too.
Since a school is a place of knowledge, it should uphold its value and an upstander helps to protect those values. If students are empowered to be an upstander, they can give strength to a target to continue progressing with school life with relief.
Giving a sense of security and relief to the target is the most important aspect of an upstander.
Conclusion
A school should be a safe place for students, but bullying can disrupt the sense of safety.
It can be that a student wants to help the target but does not do so due to fear or hesitation. So, providing guidance and empowering the students to be upstanders is required.
When a student becomes empowered, it will encourage others to become upstanders too. Becoming an upstander is a process which leaves a positive impact on people around them by preventing bullying.
