Shelagh Dunn - 2006

The Choice to Act: Adolescent Experiences of Taking Action Against Bullying

She sat in the cafeteria, silent, as a group of students grabbed Dale—the one who always sat alone. As they continued to push and taunt Dale, she felt more and more uncomfortable. She wondered how everyone else could be ignoring this. Frozen, she felt simultaneously sick to her stomach about the hatefulness of the situation, and scared to death of interrupting it and bringing the focus upon herself.

The above account of a witness of bullying highlights the depth of emotion and confusion that can accompany witnessing bullying. As a witness, choosing to act in response to bullying is a hard choice, and one that is rarely made. Canadian research has found that witnesses are present in approximately 85% of bullying incidences, but will intervene only 15% of the time (Hawkins, Pepler & Craig, 2001).

When witnesses do not act, either to stop the bullying or to signify their disapproval, their silence can be taken as tacit agreement that bullying is permissible. Yet, some students do take action against bullying when they witness it occurring. To date, very little is known about the experiences of these students. Although initial research shows that witnesses of bullying report feelings such as apathy, excitement, helplessness or fear (Jeffrey, Miller & Linn, 2001), there have been no studies examining the thoughts or feelings of students who have acted to try to stop bullying.

The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the feelings, motivations, and decision-making processes involved in these exceptional students’ choices to act. Understanding the experiences of these students is extremely important for programs that target an end to bullying. Due to the social nature of bullying, the actions of witnesses can and do have an impact upon bullying. An in-depth understanding of the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of those students will add to our knowledge of the social forces involved in bullying and the social action of witnesses, and can help pre-existing programs to better promote these responses among students, increasing their prevalence.

This study will use qualitative methodology, through the use of interviews and focus groups with junior high school students who have acted to try to stop bullying. The results of the interviews and focus groups will be presented as themes and stories in formats that are accessible to researchers, educators and students. The researcher’s hope is to represent the experiences of these students in a way that will reach others and inspire them to change their own actions in response to bullying and other forms of violence and injustice.

For more information on this study or to read the personal accounts of five students who have stood up to bullying, please visit: www.ualberta.ca/~bullying.

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