What to do if you witness the Bullybug in action

Being an upstander means taking positive action when we see someone using bullying behaviour.

It is important to think carefully about your own safety before trying to stop any bullying behaviour. If you have others with you it is much easier. If you can't do this safely you can still help, by reporting the behaviour to an adult you trust.

When we see others being bullied it can be very challenging to watch and often hard to know what to do . Our reaction can be to stand by and do nothing. This is called being a bystander.

When we witness bullying it can sometimes be tempting to join in. For example by laughing or 'liking' or sharing hurtful photos or posts online. We do this for many reasons, such as wanting to fit in or because we are afraid we will be bullied ourselves if we don't.

It is never a good idea and doesn't really help anyone. Joining in can make the person being bullied feel even worse and we feel guilty for using the behaviour too.

Find an adult that can help and tell them about the behaviour you have seen or that is going on. Remember reporting bullying behaviour is not the same as "snitching". Snitching is about getting someone in trouble, whereas REPORTING is about helping someone, by stopping bullying behaviour.

You can also support the person being bullied to ask for help themselves, by offering to be there with them when they do.

Reach out to the person who is being bullied. Some ways that you can be a friend are:

Listen to them and let them know that it isn't their fault and they don't deserve it. Let them know you are there for them.

Encourage and support them to get help from an adult.

Spend time with them and invite them to play with you.

Tell them why you like them.

Sometimes you may be able to help by interrupting the bullying behaviour.

For example, you could ask the person being bullied for their help with something important or simply invite them to join you in an activity that physically takes them away from the situation or person using the bullying behaviour.

Or if you are friends with the person using the bullying behaviour you could distract them from what they are doing by asking them for help with something or inviting them to do an activity that means they have to stop what they are doing.

If you feel safe, you could speak up while the bullying is happening and let the person using the behaviour know that it is not ok.

If you don't feel safe to step in and stop the bullying while it is happening, it is better to walk away and get help.

Telling a friend how their behaviour makes you feel and how it affects others takes courage. Telling a friend to stop using bullying behaviour is hard. However, you will be helping both person being bullied and your friend by helping them to stop hurting others and themselves with the bullying behaviour.

It is best to remove yourself from the situation and get help if you can. You can then offer support to the person being bullied later on or even talk to the person using the bullying behaviour when you feel safe to do so.