Stories

Many people witness bullying in school, college or work,
and it is hard to know what to do for the best.

Below are a few stories from people who were bystanders. They tell you
what they did and how it helped to resolve the bullying.


"I saw one girl getting bullied every day at school, she was a small, quiet girl with freckles and frizzy hair. In the playground, on the way home from school she would have things thrown at her and names shouted out at her for no apparent reason. As someone who had experienced bullying myself I wanted to do something to help but was conscious that I could become their next target. I found out who her tutor was and decided to tell him. He then spoke to the bullies and after a while the bullying seemed to die down. I was really glad that I helped someone else who was experiencing bullying. I hope that other people do too".
(Louise, 17)


"I never thought that what my friends and I were doing was bullying. I enjoyed watching other people getting bullied, I thought it was funny and just stood there laughing. I don't find it funny anymore though. I am really sorry for not sticking up for the victims. I guess I was scared of what the bullies would do to me. I'm just really sorry that i didn't help. If I could go back then i would have told someone about it so that the bullying could have stopped sooner".
(Rebecca, 14)


"One time I was walking with some friends after a day out at a Balloon Fiesta when we saw a group of youths kicking another boy who was lying on the ground next to his bike. As we watched the victim got up and ran away and the bullies took his bike and rode off on it before throwing it in some bushes further down the path and carrying on their way. I tried to run back and find the victim to tell him where his bike was, but I'd lost sight of him in the crowd. I felt bad about what happened, and angry that I didn't try and do more to help, but
the whole thing happened so fast".
(Chris, 29)