Although not every child might be a bully or be a victim of bullying, people overlook the impact of bullying to the third individual witnessing the action. Studies indicate that at least two out of four children have been a third party during a bullying event. With the increase of cyber bullying, the number of witnesses continues to grow (Van Noorden et al., 2015). Onlookers often have an opportunity to stop the bully but for some reasons most of them do not. They fear that they might be bullied too if they interfered to solve the conflict.
Some cases of a third part witnessing bullying events could lead to mental issues. For instance, in a school where a child is being bullied and his or her best friend witnesses, the victim’s friend undergoes moments of sadness due to the emotional trauma imposed towards his friend. The onlooker might alginate himself or herself from the victim of the bullying events because they do not want to be a target (Van Noorden et al., 2015). In most cases, witnesses to bullying activities are likely to become oppressors in the future to avoid being intimidated by their colleagues.

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Once the management established that some children are bullies in school, it is important for the school administration to involve parents, and teachers to handle the situation. In most schools, completing surveys, reviewing records, interviewing parties, and engaging in naturalistic observations reduces mistreatment that arises most amongst classmates and schoolmates (Van Noorden et al., 2015). In class, teachers can discuss with the learners the importance of reporting harassment cases and teach the students how to handle intimidators. Learners should be educated on living together in harmony and practicing respect towards each other. They should be taught the about the dangers of harassment and encouraged to be resilient and kind towards their schoolmates.

Reference

  • Van Noorden, T. H., Haselager, G. J., Cillessen, A. H., & Bukowski, W. M. (2015). Empathy and involvement in bullying in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Journal of youth and adolescence, 44(3), 637-657.