It is an understatement to say that having a 5th grade boy take his own life is a tragedy. Despite all the movements and attempts to spread bullying awareness, things like this continue to happen. In Jaheem's case, someone must be held accountable. The school board said the school staff "work diligently to provide a safe and nurturing environment for all students," but that doesn't cut it. Bullying was brought to the attention of teachers and administrators several times. 'Diligently' simply isn't good enough; it's the equivalent of a participation grade in school. Hard work and no results does't cut it.
The Bystander Effect is a seemingly unavoidable problem. People aren't always eager to offer help if they think that someone else will. They think it is not their responsibility and only offer assistance when prompted. Of the 3 processes in the Bystander Effect, I think Interpretation is often why people don't respond when they see someone who need help. The bystander will look around to gauge the reactions of the other bystanders and from their come to the conclusion as to whether they need to intervene. All the bystanders look at one another and when none of them react they assume that they probably do not need to.
Altruism is doing what you know to be the right thing, simply because it is the right thing to do. In our society altruism is too often forgotten, as we tend to be self-centered. Altruism is a great principle for living life. It goes back to the Golden Rule, being to treat others as you wish to be treated. If people practiced altruism more frequently, the bullying pandemic would cease to exist.

Bullying has always been a problem. From name calling, to physical violence, to online embarrassment, its done in many ways. It's becoming normal in our society. People think they are being funny or joking around , but the person might take in the wrong way. We all make fun of somebody in some kind of way, so we need to be careful. Bullying is done to feel superior, or the bully himself is hiding something. They pick on the "outsiders", the ones who can't really defend themselves ( so they think). My youth leader told me a story before entering high school about a kid who sat alone in lunch. One day another kid came sat with him for a change. He made conversation with him, and invited him over to his house that afternoon. Weeks passed by and they became best friends. One day the kid who sat alone in lunch told his friend, "you know that day you came to sit with me, I was going to kill myself." His friend said "why?" "I was tired of being lonely and bullied. I had no friends. Nobody liked me, but then you came. You saved me," he responded. Ever since then I try even harder to talk to new kids. Especially the new ones, I try to make them feel welcome. You never know you can make that one difference in somebody's life. Everybody needs this kind of inspiration and advice. Bystanders don't raise because they don't want to look lame, and/or they don't want to be the next victim. I think no matter what, there is always going to be a bully, but that shouldn't stop us, we should stop it.

Bullying is a phenomenon that may be held at bay, perhaps, but never completely obliterated. After all, it is seen across the animal kingdom, as "alpha males" attempt to subordinate their peers, demonstrating their own superiority and oftentimes gaining mates and resources due to this display of "strength." However, as evidenced by the film Bully, in the human species, this behaviour may escalate to extreme violence, perhaps resulting in the victim's suicide. As humans, we have the unique capability of standing up to these alpha males, because the fight is not wholly physical. In chance, most of today's bullying comes in the form of psychological warfare. Unfortunately, the psychology that bullies can use to carry out their vicious acts also causes many witnesses to remain silent. This is dangerous. As stated in the article on Jaheem Herrer's suicide, the refusal of people to intervene is seen by the victims as people's "not caring." The truth is that we are afraid. We don't want to put ourselves in the position of becoming the bully's next victim. It's easy to walk away and assume that someone else will solve the problem when we are not directly involved. It's not our jobs to intervene. But, when nobody claims responsibility, we are showing that we do not care about the bully's actions. The Advertising Campaign's "Be More Than A Bully" project encourages teenagers to intervene and educates them on the best methods. It's easy to feel that we do not have the means to stand up to the bully, or that we are not powerful enough. It only takes one person to make someone give up and end his or her life. Likewise, it only takes one person to save a life.

Bullying is extremely prevalent in our world today. I've seen it first hand in schools for as long as I can remember, along with on the internet and in homes. In my opinion, some of the worst bullying comes from social networking sites because of the lack of actual contact between the bully and victim. This allows the bully to hide behind a screen and avoid confrontation. Alturism is harder to display over the internet, because most of the bullying can go on without making a big scene like there would be in person. I think people in general definitely believe bullying is wrong, but many do not act against it. Like many people in previous posts have said, people may be afraid to step in for fear of becoming the target. I also think that because our society has become much more individualistic, people may turn away from someone in need. I'm not saying someone would ignore a victim being beat up by a bully, but I believe most people would not step in if they overheard names being called or other similar insults. Our society has become desensitized to name calling and bad mouthing because it is commonplace. This is where bystanders don't intervene. When the bullying is discreet or does not seem to be an emergency, they fail to assume responsibility and help. Almost all of us are guilty of witnessing some sort of bullying and not stepping in. Being an upstander is difficult sometimes because defying the majority and being a voice is scary and difficult for us. Fortunately, bullying has been recognized as a problem in our country, and many people do step up and become upstanders.

Bullying has always been a tough subject for me to discuss because I was bullied a lot in middle school. Everyone goes through their "awkward stage" and I believe that at that point in life you are the most vulnerable. People see this and take advantage of you. If people know you are insecure and will react, they will feed off of it. I used to be called four eyes for simply wearing glasses, so I stopped wearing them and my vision got so horrible that I couldn't see the board even when I was sitting in the front of the room. To this day I cannot wear glasses and I had to resort to contacts. Knowing that no one was there for me through my tough time makes me wonder why we are bystanders and not up standers because I know if I see someone getting bullied I will always say something to try to stop it. Bullies need power, and if they are shut down, they can't react anymore. But I feel like when people see bullies in the act they get intimidated and won't say anything because they are afraid the bully will then focus their attention on them. For me personally, I wouldn't care because I know now, through experience, how to react to situations like that. I was very fortunate to have gotten through those tough years and to learn from those bad memories. Some people aren't so lucky - they see bullying as a nightmare; That it will never stop, no matter how hard they plead and try. Some even resort to killing themselves because the pain is so unbearable. We need to act on this. We need to see the bigger picture; take a step back, and look at how bad our harsh words can hurt people. And change for the better.

Bullying is always a major issue in schools. Every year students get lectures on bullying and are informed on what is right and what is wrong. I agree wih alot of my fellow classmates that social networking is where the bullying really hits hard. Social networking gives kids the ability to bully other kids from a safe distance. Ive seen kids make fake emails, facebooks and twitter accounts that they use to directly attack other kids. When kids make these fake accounts, it makes them feel invisible and hidden. The victims of these bullys have no idea who is behind the accounts and can make them feel helpless and scared. Bullying will always exist though. Kids will always have competive natures and the need to show they are better than someone else. Can we stop bullying? Its a long shot. Can we decrease the amount of bullying in the classroom and outside the classroom? Absolutely.

Bullying is a terrible thing that I have witnessed from elementary school to high school. Whether it is verbally, physically, or mentally, bullying affects the lives of thousands of children every day. I believe the main reason some people feel the need to bully others is to make them feel better about themselves and to feel powerful over others. Another reason bullying happens so often is because in the eyes of a bully, "different" is a bad thing. Many kids are different, and are sadly not embraced for being who they are. Many are picked on for being different in some way, such as wearing glasses, having an accent, or having any other personal characteristic that differs from the norm. Being bullied at an early age can cause serious short term and long term problems in a child's life. Depending on how badly a child is affected by bullying, he/she may frequently miss school, develop unwanted personality traits like shyness or self-consciousness, and even intentionally cause harm to himself/ herself. In severe cases, bullying is so bad that the victim will go as far as to end his/her own life, such as Jaheem Herrera. Bullies do not stop to think about how they are making another person feel and do not realize how much damage they are causing in another human being's life.
We all know that it can be difficult to be an upstander when witnessing someone being bullied. It is difficult because many people are afraid of being in the victim's situation, or are afraid of being judged by others. Many wish that they could be upstanders, but do not have the courage to do so. This is what separates a hero from other people.
Parents, teachers, and students need to pay close attention to this serious issue. Personally, I have seen many students being bullied in a classroom and witnessed the situation being completely ignored by the teachers.This is the only way of preventing bullying before it becomes too severe, and results in tragedies like that of eleven year old Jaheem.

I think that it is very unfortunate that there are kids out there who are a little bit overweight and called fat or they don't act like everyone else and they get picked on for being weird. The worst thing is when a child is physically harmed for not being "normal" like "everyone else". Those kids get hurt for being themselves. I think that most people are bystanders other than being upstanders. We need to be better people and stop bullies from doing any harm to another kid when we see it. If we see anything looking like it could be bullying or if it looks like it will turn into a situation that could involve any act of bullying we need to step in there and stop whatever is going on. I believe that by being an upstander, we can higher our self confidence because knowing we helped a kid that could've been severely hurt that we can just be very confident in anything we do. If anybody sees a situation that looks like bullying or if it is bullying then they need to stop whatever is going on because there are kids who have committed suicide because they were being bullied and that is just absolutely ridiculous. Kids don't need to do that because they were so depressed and upset from what was happening at school. Things like this should never even happen at school. Kids are supposed to make friends at school, not enemies. This world needs more upstanders to stop everything about bullying.

Growing children are still developing their views of themselves and their self-esteem. Bullying can inhibit and even taint their quest to find themselves. Children at this age (schooling age), are not very far along on Maslow's hierarchy. Most of them have attained physiological needs but the majority of them have not made it through the loving and acceptance stage. When children are young its important that schools not only help their knowledge grow, but they must also help their childrens' self esteem grow healthily.
I believe the main reason why bullying is so often brushed off by schools and teachers is because they don't believe it is their responsibility to stop it. Everyone is so preoccupied with other things, focusing only on teaching the children, that bullying often gets overlooked. Another reason why people don't pay attention to it is because it is not talked about. Many schools do not want to have to admit they have a bullying problem at their school and many teachers don't feel comfortable intervening. So, while some of these people may still view bullying as wrong, they fail to intervene. And that's why a movement like the one shown in the documentary could be revolutionary. When you open up the public's eyes to such a major and emotional issue, they will become mobilized and work to prevent it. So it is not only the responsibility of educators to stop it, it is also the responsibility of the public to recognize it.

The idea of the bystander effect has always been apparent to me and I have always wondered what I would do in the situation of if I had the chance to be an upstander. Obviously in a perfect world everyone will have the courage to stand up to the bullies of this world but we know that is not true. I believe more people think that if they do not get involved they can avoid conflict and that what is going is not their problem which is the true thinking of a bystander. The problem is that many people do not see the need to help others but the consequences they may face if things do not go accordingly when they try to be an upstander. Upstanders think instinctively to help others and will always stand up for someone in danger. There are very few people like this in society and as it said in the video and these normal heroes should be praised. Bullying is a large problem for the self-esteem and welfare of our children and it seems to be brushed off by our school systems leaving the upstanders to take care of it.

I have had less experience with bullying than most of the other people that have posted but I think the response to any situation should be the same. If you can do so safely, you should stand up to the bully. In most cases however this is not an option due to size, popularity, and social influence of the aggressor. The problem as I see it is that once the student decides that they cannot stop the bullying themselves they give up instead of taking the issue to a higher authority. I was appalled that 1 out of 4 teachers sees bullying and does nothing about it and I think this may be a reason that people don't report bulling. We are more likely to be a bystander than an upstander because we are afraid. I believe that bully boxes, for all the "bad rap" they get, should be used more. We can avoid a lot of the suffering and loss of life caused by bullying if we just use the tools that are supplied for us.

Everybody has flaws.No body is perfect and ever will be, but the idea of people picking on other people for having something wrong with them and using that trait to insult them and take them down is bad. I agree with Katie on the fact that kids are still growing and getting their self esteem. If they are bullied then they can lose that self esteem and have no hope. Bullying is a problem. Now a days, kids are becoming more violent andrude throughtout the years that pass. Why? I think maybe it's from what is on tv or the video games they play or the internet. Bad things can influence others to act in that manner in order to feel like that person or thing that they saw or heard of. I've experienced many bullys and have been a bystander doing nothing about it. I admit my faults, but I've only seen so many of these occur. Dunwoody doesn't have alot of bullying problems I'd say. But it does have alot of cliques and people with high self esteem feel that they are at the top of the food chain. That is how alot of bullying begins.

I feel as though bullying is a serious problem in school systems, and while it is talked about, I feel as tough we don't fully understand the extent of bullying, why it happens, and why we don't do anything about it. Like stated in the data, bullying is a common occurrence in schools country wide, yet we don't do anything about it. I feel as though the importance of altruism and character has been diminished, if present at all in these situations, as people verbally and physically bully others and no one says boo about yet, yet afterwards we moan about how awful bullying is and that we should do something about it. I feel as though this is due to our need to fit in and be a

Bullying can take many forms: a look, a word, or even physical contact. The bully usually assumes a role of dominance or superiority, and can inflict substantial damage on his or her victims. Bullying is a vicious cycle that leaves neither party happy. The main campaign for the attempt to end bullying has occurred in schools; one result is that the punishments for bullying have become more severe, but it often goes unchecked anyways. Perhaps an offender that is just as guilty as the bully is the bystander, the student that watches on as a fellow student's well-being is compromised. Even more guilty, is the teacher that allows harmful behavior in the classroom. Some teachers admit to believing that going through bullying is a rite of passage for students, and that they must overcome the abuse in order to get stronger. Fortunately, not all of them feel this way. Often bullies are caught and punished by either the teacher, or in severe cases, the school administration. The students and teachers who choose to stand up to the school bullies are the heroes of the situation. Their action makes the difference between a bystander and a hero.

Part of a group. It's only afterwards when people are complaining about how awful bullying is, then everyone gets on their high horses about it. After all, it is part of Maslows hierarchy that we need to fit in.

Bullying can both be a good and a bad thing. Good in the form that a little judgement in life is good for building the person you want to be. As someone bullied all throughout middle school, it turned me into the type of person that would never put down anyone because I know how awful it feels. Bullying is bad when it goes too far and causes depression or harmful self esteem issues. When bullying gets violent, thats when teachers should draw the line, also if verbal abuse is taking place. Can we put a decrease in bullying? Of course we can. Will we? Thats up to the schools.

Bullying today is a big concern and has been for a while. You always here about schools and other places trying to prevent and stop bullying. Well, it'll never end. There will always be bullying everywhere. There are multiple reasons for people to feel that they need to bully others. They are usuaully mad, depressed, or just want to act like the tough guy and beat people up. Although, bullying can be expressed in different ways, such as physical abuse, bad language, hazing, or use over social media. I'm sure everyone has witnessed bullying and most of us don't do anything about it. I must say I am one of those sometimes. I tend to just not get involved in anyone's business nor would a tell on them unless i feel the need to step in. But, that is more of the issue today. Others will just not step up and tell a bully to stop, which will influence the bully to keep doing what he/she does. It's tough to stop bullying because it will never end, but to decrease the amout of bullying is something that could work. It just seems as though no one really goes out of their way to do something about this problem.

Bullies want attention. If they haven't been getting it through positive means, they'll bully another kid to get noticed. People standing by and watching without objecting perpetuate bullying. Bullies don't acknowledge that they are hurting someone, because they are only thinking about themselves. No one, I think, really thinks of themselves as a bully. They may see the victim as someone who deserves to be put back into place or deserves their criticism. There is a need for someone to help the bully come to realize that their actions are truly hurtful to others. People's silence is perceived as acquiescence or even support of the bullying. It is difficult to speak out, especially against a group of friends, when the bullying is seen as "just joking around", but communication is essential, along with strong judgement and principles, to ending bullying. Once bullying has been recognized, as it does come in many different forms, it should be called to attention and stopped.

Bullying is a huge problem that seems to be socially acceptable in schools across the United States. People can be bullied physically, verbally, psychologically, and even online. More and more bullies are using social networking sights to make fun of ridicule other students, because they like the anonymity of being behind a computer screen. Because a bully is only thinking of themself and their own power, he or she will not even realize when the victim is in pain, whether it is physical or mental. Bullies are typically insecure. They will tease another person about a specific thing, just so they themselves will feel better, and worth something. What makes a person "deserve" to be bullied? When is the right time to step in and stop bullies? Most people either see bullying happening and don't want to get involved, or they may not even notice the bullying at all. If they don't want to get involved, it is probably out of fear. They most likely feel that they will be the next target. Others will turn a blind eye to bullying just because they don't want to feel obliged to stop I and deal with it head on. Some bullies perceive their behavior as just "joking", which makes it even harder for the victim to speak out. He or she will be looked at by peers as one who can't handle a joke. Bullying needs to be stopped. The effects can be tragic, and it is 100% preventable.

Bullying can be shown in many ways, and people dont do enough things to stop it today. Whether it is calling names or physically harming someone, bullying can do so much damage to people on the inside even though you can see it. When someone is being bullied you will see it happening and think nothing of it because you see it so much. If you hear someone making fun of a kid you might just laugh and that will be the end of it, but in reality that kid could be so embarassed and go as far as kill himself/herself. Bullying can ruin lives and it is awful that we have kept letting it happen to this day. Bullying can create someone who is psychologically unstable later in life. This past weekend in Newtown, Connecticut a man went into a school taking many childrens lives as well as his own mothers. On the news i heard that people describing the man who did it said that , "he was always the weird and awkward kid." He probably was bullied for being different than everyone else. Im not saying that bullying created what he did but thats what it can do and people need to know what is bulling and to stand up for people being bullied.

in my opinion i do not agree with bullying. the reason why people are bystandersrether than up standers is becuase people dont want to get involved in someone else's bussiness. one thing that goes though peoples minds when they see something wrong accuring they think to them selves is it worth it and will i get in trouble for possiably trying to help the situation. in the end i feel as if bullying should stop period its not right and a lot of people get hurt by it.

Like I in a previous discussion question, society tends to fool themselves into thinking that some things about our earth can be fixed with loads and loads of hope and intervention but in reality, it's not true. This is history. In life there will always be someone to intimidate and push around, and there will always that jerk that pushes others around because of there own insecurities. Try and try to fix this issue. You'll be doing it in vain.

We are more likely to be bystanders because we arent dumb. If we perceive something to be a threat or dangerous situation (like being bullied), we aren't generally going to put ourselves in a position to get harmed or made fun of by standing up against the bully. We would hope that we would all be altruistic and help out, but that is just idealistic and wishful thinking. We are almost always going to look out for ourselves first, and rightfully so; thus, if we see someone being bullied naturally we aren't going to try to get in the way and put ourselves in danger. We become a bystander.

JaQuan was the first one to comment. <(^.^)>

In my opinion we are all most likely to just be bystanders. Some of us are too afraid to stand up and help the victim, while others really do not care or say that it is none of their business. Honestly if we were to have people to help those who are being bullied maybe the rates of bullying would decrease. I honestly loathe bullying, and it hurts me when I see someone being bullied even if I know them or not. There is no reason to be bullied, I think that the person just wants attention brought upon themselves. If someone was actually being bullied right in front of me, I would stand up for them and do my best to help them. Like I said we are either sometimes scared of what may happen, or simply we could careless, and that is not how it should seriously be. We need to be the standers.

Bullying is no longer a joke! It has become a serious issue throughout the world. Many people feel that getting bullied is embarrassing and they then try to move on and ignore the situation. Without an authority figure taking action and trying to resolve the issue, the issue just grows bigger and bigger. Even if kids do tell an adult, some feel that if they take action things with just become worse. It all starts from a little comment like “You’re so small, or weak, or stupid”, but it can lead to so much more. Children, some of whom are only young ages, do not understand that a simple world may seem insignificant to one person but can cause emotional harm to someone else. Numerous people don’t understand that to a young kid the word stupid is the worse thing that they could ever be called. For example, if a fight breaks out at school because someone is being bullied, other students tend to back off and watch instead of stepping in and helping. One thought is that stepping back will eliminate themselves from getting hurt, but the other thought is if they don’t help the victim is now stuck in a situation…alone. If this occurs the bully feels more accomplished and will continue these harmful actions. Few people today tend to be altruistic because they believe that putting themselves out there to stop an issue will hurt themselves in the future. They feel that the resulting consequences will be worse if they step in instead and stepping back and watching. This all leads to the reason why many people choose to be bystanders instead of an upstander

There are many reasons for which we are bystanders rather than up-standers. For one, we consider it to not be our business; that it is not our obligation to intervene, and therefore we do not. The bystander effect brings this dilemma to light, stating that we are likely to feel as though someone else will take care of it so we don't have to. There are always some exceptions however. There are people who will put themselves in harms way in order to stand up for what they believe is right and do what they believe is the right thing to do. Whether it is perhaps that they see someone encountering the same problems they experienced or simply because they feel a sense of sympathy for the victim, they do what they can to defend another person's welfare. Society needs more people who are willing to stand for what they believe in and not idly sit by watching something that they feel is wrong. Too many times bullies have gotten away without consequence due to someone not standing up for the victim, who may feel unsafe standing up for him or herself. This is not soley just an epidemic among children and teenagers, however. Thousands of couples experience abuse in their relationships, and children of these relationships may even experience similar abuse. Bullying should not be taken lightly, it is a very serious problem that the world faces today, that has caused children to even go as far as to take their lives. The movie Bully, in fact, was given an NC-17 rating when it was first released due to the uncomfortable sights that were shown as part of children bullying other children, depicting such scenes as a boy kicking another boy and threatening to kill the other boy. For these sort of situations to be nonexistent, people must quit being bystanders, and be proactive in standing by their moral compass and speaking out when they see something that they feel is not right.

Bullying is an issue that occurs more frequently than we would like to admit. People of all ages can be victims, though children are the most affected. As students grow older, they are trying to realize who they are as a person and attain that status. Along the way, however, these kids may become recipients of bullying. The reason that most people brush this topic aside is primarily because we don't acknowledge that bullying comes in different forms. Most of us believe that bullying is only considered to be bullying if there is physical violence involved. This is, of course, misleading. Through new information and new technology, bullying can now be available through multiple mediums: physical, emotional, verbal, and perhaps one of the newest mediums, online. Any form of this violence is intolerable, but abuse online seems to be one of the worst types. The reason? People are able to hide behind their computers and their iPhones and bully without confrontation. This gives the bully the ability to feel even more empowered. Bullying may come easier online but altruism is harder in person. Everyone would like to think that they would do the right thing if they were in the actual situation, but unfortunately, we fall short of our expectations. Doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do is easier said than done because of two main reasons: the bystander effect and the pressure to fit into the crowd. We often think that we don't need to step in and help others who are being bullied because we think that someone else will. But if we all assume that someone else will help, who actually ends up taking the high road and helping those in need? No one. This is what the bystander effect demonstrates. In order to help those being bullied, we all need to assume that no one else will do the right thing, therefore compelling us to help the ones who are victims of this terrible epidemic called bullying.

I think that bullying isn't right. I personally can't stand people who bully others because I have been there before, due to my size. There should be more people that stand up for people who are being bullied around them, but that's not usually the case. Now why are we more likely to be bystanders? Well, in my opinion, most people are just looking out for themselves and don't want to go around trying to stop the bullying because they feel they would be the bullied one next. Only for speaking up against the bully. I feel that most people are just to busy fitting in that they don't want to give up their precious popularity for the someone who isn't themselves. Most people feel that if they speak against bullying then they will be the odd one out next.

One of the biggest problems that schools face is protecting those who are being bullied. The problem is that it is difficult for a school to enforce all of the teachers to look after every single student, especially in high school when students are expected to act like adults and look after themselves. That is why schools should do a better job in setting up organizations and after school programs for those that believe that they are being bullied. That gives the student someone to talk to when they are in an uncomfortable situation. Today, students can be bullied in different ways than students were bullied when the teachers were in high school. Now that there is social media and computers available to most students, cyberbullying can go unnoticed by most teachers. The reason why people would rather be bystanders opposed to up standers is that most of the time people don't want to get involved in a situation that they don't need to get involved in. Therefore people pretend as if nothing is going on instead up standing up for the person being bullied or telling an adult about the problem. People also want to naturally follow what others are doing, and if others are doing nothing about the problem, then you're more likely not going to do something to help the person getting bullied. There are a few people that do stand up to the bully, and usually that person is someone who used to be bullied or someone who just always stands up for the right thing. Bullying is sadly apart of our culture and as we become more educated about the severity of bullying, we must continue to stand up for those who are bullied and help prevent bullying from happening.

No one will admit that if they saw bullying, they would just be a bystander and do nothing about it. Everyone believes they have a strong moral core and would stand up to stop an evil act. Its hard to say that true altruism even exists because every person must execute an action for some sort of intrinsic gain, whether it be publicity or even personal gratification. There are few people in the world who are truly altruistic, expecting no compensation for their heroism.
The truth is, most people’s actions are based on the desire for personal gain. Even bullying. By picking on the weak, the bully is able to gain self-confidence and a feeling of power. Often the bully will be allowed to continue their reign of terror because “boys will be boys” or people say “you should let their kids fight their own battles”. But sayings like this only encourage the bystander mentality. Sayings like this make people question their ability to intervene to stop an act of evil.
The number one reason for bystanders being more numerous than up-standers is the aspect of fear that strips courage away. Low self-confidence is another reason. People doubt their own power to change a situation. That or they make an excuse of “its not my problem”.
Overall, the number of altruistic people is few, while the number of bullies is high, and the number of bystanders is even higher.

Bullying is an issue that each of us see almost every day if not weekly. It is something that has probably affected someone we know or even ourselves. And it is something that purposefully hurts someone that is a part of our own species! Bullying is something that I personally see as one of the most horrible issues we are facing as humans today. Though sometimes people may see it as silly when put next to war or famine, it is still just as relevant as all of the other problems we face as a society. Millions of people have been affected by it and have to live with the scars that come from it whether those are physical, mental, or emotional. I find it appalling that people feel the need to torture others just to satisfy themselves and boost their own egos and self esteem. But something I find even worse than the bullying itself is those who don't stand up to the problem. As stated earlier, we all most likely see some form of bullying occur very frequently, but do we do anything about it? Most times the answer to that is most likely no. As a human race, all part of the same breed and society, shouldn't we come together and defend each other, doing what is right when what we see is wrong? I think so. The reason this doesn't happen though is fear. The fear of destroying our own image. The fear of breaking away from the norm of letting this terror happen. And the fear of being bullied ourselves. By not standing up and continuing to let these bullies do what they always have, we give them the complete power that they desire. As Phillip Zimbardo mentioned in the TED Talk, that power is what fuels evil. And evil is exactly what the bullying is. So people need to break down that power and help to push resistance against the evil it causes, the bullying and harm of innocent people.

Bullying is a common issue in our society. I've witnessed bullying from a very young age. Bullying is not only prevalent in schools, but is demonstrated in the home, workplace, and on the Internet. In my opinion the worst form of bullying is not physical assault, but cyber bullying. Cyberbulling allows the bully to gain confidence that one would not usually have because of the lack of human interaction between the bully and victim. The bully is more susceptible to say cruel statements because they lack of confrontation. This makes the ideal of altruism difficult because a private message can be sent to the victim, leaving others oblivious to the bullying. I believe that most people know that bullying is unethical, and are sympathetic to victims of bullying, but ignore the issue when given the opportunity to act against it. This is when we see an increase in the numbers of those who do not report or intervene when they witness name calling in the hallways. This is because our society is molded on the ideal of "don't get involved and mind your own business." When a victim is not physically harmed, bystanders usually do not feel the emergency to intervene. It is difficult for one to go against the masses, and be an upstander with the threat of being a victim yourself. By leading by example as an upstander, you can help decrease the problem of bullying around the world.

Although we do not like to admit it, children get bullied every single day and nowadays everyone has either been a victim of bullying or knows a person who has been bullied before. Today, more and more children are committing suicide because they have been a victim of bullying. Most of us like to believe that when we see a fight between two people, we would step in a break it up. But in reality, we are just a bystander to the fight. We are afraid to step in and interfere with the fight because we do not want our peers to judge us and we do not want to become the next victim of a bully. Another reason we are normally just a bystander to a fight is that we all want to belong in school, so we conform to the social norms. We do not want to be that student that stepped in a broke up a fight, even if it was the right thing to do. Altruism is doing the right thing, like breaking up a fight, because we know it is the right thing to do. If everybody practiced altruism, there would not be as much bullying in the world as there is today. If every time we saw someone getting bullied, either verbally or physically, and we stepped in, the amount of children who are bullied every year would decrease.

Bullying is an issue that is constantly being treated/recognized, but will never be completely abolished. Bullying is prevalent in school and even over the internet, and can be physical or psychological. Altruism is the practice or concern for the welfare of others. I think some people actually do care about the welfare of their peers, but are too afraid to defend a victim of bullying. Others are just generally selfish and would rather not get involved in a situation that could potentially threaten their own state of well-being. Most people are prone to being bystanders because it can be hard to stand up for somebody, especially if you don’t know them. Sometimes, as humans, we depend on others to do the right thing for us. We assume that somebody else will see the victim and help them, or we just hope that someone will so we don’t have to. The people that are usually willing to stand up for another’s well-being are usually the people who have once been a victim themselves. If you experience being bullied, you will have more sympathy for others experiencing it. This ability to relate emotionally can cause you to want to get involved. Bullying is mean. Down with bullying.

We all know bullying isn't right, but then again, so does mostly everyone. The major thing is that people don't know how to stop it. There are many reasons why most people just avoid seeing someone being bullied other than confronting the bully itself. Fear is what makes us not do anything about it because we dont want the same hing to happen to us. I can relate to this post because i have seen bullying in many occasions, and being the coward I am, i didn't do anything about it. Why, because I was scared. No one wants to be bullied and that's why most people are just bystanders. Though i have witnessed many bystanders, I have also witnessed Up-standers. The people i see that stand up for others when someone is being bullied tend to be the more sociable and popular people. I can infer that because with all the friends they have, they are almost protected. People may read this and say that i am being negative and not believing in people just doing the right thing, but it's the truth. Isn't saftey and being socially acceptable part of maslow's Pyramid? yes it is. Thus, i believe some people stand up just because they believe they have the power, in the form of friends and backup, to do so.
We see bullying as a big deal in our culture, and we try to do something about it and i respect that. But in short, i think bullying cant be stopped. It can be prevented, but then all that pent up anger will come out in another unjustifiable way.

Many of us understand that bullying is morally wrong but why do many of us when seeing it in action refuse to help and automatically blame the bully? Many of us blame the person’s personality but we don’t stop and consider the possible factors that are associated with the behavior. The person could be acting out because of his troubled family life or his frustration with school. One has to take into account that many of the bullies are acting out because of previous expediencies. Many have experienced abandonment, isolation, dehumanization or they simple lack self-identity and wish to acquire a sense of self by becoming part of a group. Children who were raised in hostile environments grow up to have unstable personalities. They use bullying to compensate for their horrible childhood by making others feel what they have or build up their low self-esteem. Many of them may be simply fallowing what the majority of their peers are doing so that they can acquire a sense of belonging giving them an identity that they may be lacking. As Aristotle said “we are social animals.” We are willing to change who we are to fit in and be accepted. For many people it’s hard to go against their group’s beliefs for fear of being shun. For this reason there are few people willing to stand up and make a change. So how do we stop bullying? Bulling is only going to stop when people learn how to accept others, even when the person doesn’t act, look, or think like the people they accustomed to. People have to be willing to accept people outside of their in-group even when they risk becoming an outcast. By becoming more tolerant of other’s differences one can help combat bullying and prejudice.

It seems funny how most people in America say that bullying is bad, but most everyone in our class has done it, including me. I feel that bullying is a horrible problem in our lives and it seems to get worse everyday, from talking about somebody behind their back, to straight up yelling at somebody it seems that it happens practically every minute, of everyday. The saddest fact, however, is that the bystander effect has made bullying become even more prevalent, and even teachers seem to do nothing about bullying anymore.The bystander effect probably comes from the way we were raised, we see a homeless person in Atlanta and our parents walk right past them, after all our ideas do form from observational learning. I feel like altruism is practically nonexistent nowadays, even with programs like stop bullying now or the bullying hotline, I have only known two people to EVER report bullying. I feel like just talking doesn’t seem to help and that we need to do more about everyday bullying, starting now. This could even mean just doing simple acts of everyday heroism. This could include stopping talking about somebody behind their back and talking about how fun or nice they are. Or buying a homeless guy an ice cream when he doesn't have the money, we could start with little acts of heroism and start going farther and farther, until like Ms. Rowe said were running, but this type in the opposite way.

Bullying is a huge problem in schools across the country. Students are continually bullied daily. Everybody says that bullying is bad and shouldn't happen, but most of the time, nothing is done about it. Most people think that bullying is a small conflict and that children should face the problems themselves but bullying is a way bigger problem then that. It kills child's self esteem and can even force them to take their lives. I believe that people dont do anything about bullying because they do know not the real dangers of bullying. They just think that after one time, the bullying will stop. By standers think that it is not a big of a deal. On the other hand know that bullying is dangerous. They have a stronger moral core which is why they take action when they see bullying occurring. 77% of students are bullied either mentally, verbally, or physically. Now a days, kids are bullied to the extent where they will commit suicide. We need more up standers in this society that will help stop bullying across the country.

Bullying is a problem because of the social dynamics that surround human life. As humans, we intrinsically want to fit in, and don't want to stick out in a crowd and distance ourselves from the group. Bullying most often occurs as a group effort, with several people ganging up on one person. For this reason, we perceive bullying as being in fashion, and are far more likely to stand by, or even join in, than to stop the bullying. This behavior is due to our desire to belong, which causes us to do almost anything to fit into a social group. Often, people in school who commit bullying are the more popular people, who are admired by most of the school. It has been proven that we are more likely to conform to a social group that we see as attractive, so it is no surprise that we often stand by as popular people bully the less popular. Of course, there are a rare few people who stand up to bullying and don't conform to the evil acts of a popular social group. I believe that these people do so because they have already fulfilled their "belongingness" drive, and don't feel the need to gain the approval of popular people. Those who conform and stand by as bullying occurs most likely don't feel like they belong anywhere, and crave approval and a sense of being in a group. For this reason, I believe the key way to become an up-stander is for one to find a group to belong in, or become confident in their individuality, instead of desperately seeking to conform, and become something they are not.