Last night I watched an episode of “Law and Order” and there was a case where a lady was being harassed; she ended up jumping off the Manhattan Bridge. Initially, all witnesses denied that they had seen anything happen.

Eventually, one witness confessed that a man had dragged the lady out of her car and was abusing her; it turns out there were several that witnessed this, but not one of them had done anything to help her. They were too scared to get involved.

This is called “social proof”. When people aren’t sure what to do, they look to others for guidance. If no one else is doing anything, then they don t either. People assume that other people understand more about the situation than they do, and they follow their lead.

Unfortunately, this passive response from bystanders is not unusual. In other words, bystanders are living up to their name by standing there and doing nothing – and this is a problem. A number of experts today say that bystanders have the power to drastically reduce bullying at schools.

Cyberbullying takes place where adults aren’t present and the kids who are witnessing the cyberbullying need to be empowered to stand up for each other. Minding your own business doesn’t solve the problem of bullying.

Most people want to do something to help someone who is being bullied but often they don’t know what to do. Just like in face to face bullying, cyberbullies like an audience. If the audience shows disapproval, cyberbullies are more likely to be discouraged from continuing.

Peer acceptance is important to them.

It’s important that we teach kids about the power of the bystander early, so they know what to do when they find themselves in that situation.