Bystander behaviour of school children observing bullying

Although the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 (SASA) is silent about the impact of crime and violence on schools, it does, however, place the responsibility of promoting and maintaining a culture of teaching and learning on the principal, educators and school governing bodies. Section 12 of the Bill of Rights as entrenched in the Constitution, however, deals with freedom of security of the person and provides that everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person which includes the right to be free from any form of violence, not to be tortured in any way and not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way. According to Maree (in Oosthuzen, 1999:16) violence in South African schools has been escalating since 1994. Bullying, as one form of violence, is such a prevalent problem in our schools that ways should be found to deal with it – whether they are victims, perpetrators or even bystanders. Bullying in all its forms is a threat to the safety and well-being of learners at the school. Bullying frequently takes place in the presence of learner bystanders. Educators are rarely present and are generally never told about what has happened. Although bystanders sometimes speak out to discourage the bullying, the most common response is to ignore what is going on – and the bullying continues. Usually learners are reluctant to report instances of bullying for fear of being labelled as sell-outs or telltale amongst their peers, or that their telling might anger the bullies and they will probably be subjected to prolonged bullying. This article proposes strategies on how bullying in primary schools may be reduced through encouraging learner bystanders to engage in social and interceptive behaviour to assist victims of bullying