Imagine that you’re sitting at the bus stop. Adjacent to you, two middle school-aged girls are picking on a slightly younger girl. “Do you have any friends at all?” they ask her. “You definitely do need makeup,” they tell her.
How would you react? Would you intervene? Or let it be?
Recently,
Up TV sought to find out how bystanders would react in the above situation. They staged the scene and placed cameras nearby to record reactions. The clip was posted to
YouTube on Oct. 22 and has already amassed nearly a quarter of a million views.
The PSA opens with a striking statistic: "At least 1 in 3 kids will be bullied during school." Then the scene plays out and the two girls make some not-so-nice remarks about the third. Bystanders at the bus stop begin to take notice and the hateful comments don't seem to sit well with them. One by one, the strangers interject. "Want somebody to do that to you?" one woman asks the two girls. "Don't mess with her like that," a security guard tells them.
Bullying is as big of a problem as ever. Because of the increasing presence of social media in children's lives, cyberbullying is emerging as a serious issue as well. According to
NoBullying, about 43 percent of children have been bullied online in some capacity. In the same infographic, it was reported that 90 percent of teenagers who witnessed cyberbullying did nothing about it.
With Up TV's anti-bullying PSA, they hope to raise awareness about bullying as well as demonstrate the influence that a bystander can have on a bullying victim. Speaking up for those who aren't able to speak for themselves can be a powerful thing, as evidenced in the video below. Sometimes all it takes is a few words of wisdom to boost someone's self-esteem - especially when they're being targeted by bullies.
Have you ever been bullied, or witnessed a child being bullied? On the flip side, has your family member of friend ever been the bully? It's likely that you can answer yes to one of those questions if not all of them. Bullying can be a hard subject to broach, but it's one that needs addressing. In addition to the PSA, Up TV also
released an article about how to deal with bullying, be it at school or online. There are tips for both parents and kids, and a list of actionable steps that can be taken to prevent or stop bullying.
Give the video a spin to see how strangers react when they witness bullying. It's a good reminder that the world is filled with decent people who are striving to make it a better place.
The next time you witness something like this, be sure to stand up against bullying.
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