Student Bystanders in Australian Schools

Bullying in schools typically occurs with student bystanders present. How and why bystanders react as they do was examined with primary (n=200) and secondary (n=200) students attending Australian state coeducational schools. They viewed a video depicting bullying incidents and recorded how they thought they would respond as bystanders. Responses were about equally divided between those who would help the victim directly and those that would ignore what was happening. A lesser proportion reported they would get a teacher; a small number were inclined to assist the bully. Explanations for these reactions were examined using both quantitative and qualitative descriptive methods and suggestions are made about how teachers can promote better bystander behaviour in schools.