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    ABA & Our Work

    The Anti-Bullying Alliance is a coalition of organisations and individuals that are united against bullying.

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    United Against Bullying (UAB) Programme

  • Tools & information
    • What is bullying?
      • The ABA definition
      • Bullying as a group behaviour
      • Tools about the definition of bullying
      • Banter
        • Understanding Banter
        • Teaching about banter and bullying
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    • All about bullying
      • A whole-school and setting approach
        • What is a whole-school or setting approach?
        • Our Anti-Bullying Foundations
        • The curriculum
          • England
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        • Peer support strategies
          • What are peer support schemes?
          • Bystanders
          • Top tips to help you with your peer support scheme
          • Examples of peer support schemes
          • Change Starts With Us: Creating solutions with young people
      • At-risk groups
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        • Racist and faith targeted bullying
          • Prevalence
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        • Looked after children and bullying
          • Bullying and care-experienced young people: Prevalence and experience
          • What can schools and other settings do to support looked after children?
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          • What can schools and settings do to help young carers?
        • Identity-based bullying
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        • What is online bullying?
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      • Prevalence and Impact
        • Focus on: Bullying
        • Prevalence of bullying
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        • Change Starts With Us: Anti-Bullying Report
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            • Pecyn Ysgolion Cynradd (2024) / Primary School Pack (2024)
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            • Diwrnod Sanau Od (2024) / Odd Socks Day (2024)
            • Rhieni a Gofalwyr / Parents and Carers
            • Primary School pack 2024 (Wales English Version)
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        • Reporting and recording bullying
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          • How many children bully and what do we know about them?
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          • What is restorative practice?
          • Restorative practice - dispelling the myths
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        • What is sexual and sexist bullying?
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        • Sources of information, advice and support
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        • How can I help my child if they are being bullied?
        • Spotting the signs that my child is being bullied?
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      • Were you bullied as a child? Or are you being bullied at work?
      • Interactive anti-bullying information tool for parents and carers
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    Tools & information

    In this section, you will find links to all things bullying including the definition of bullying, research, our online CPD training and lot more about preventing, recording and responding to bullying of children and young people.

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    • What is bullying?
    • All about bullying
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    Free CPD online training

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    Prevalence and impact of bullying

  • Anti-Bullying Week
    • Anti-Bullying Week 2025: Power for Good
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      • Andy and the Odd Socks
      • Odd Socks Days gone by...
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    • Previous years
      • Anti-Bullying Week 2024: Choose Respect
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        • Secondary School Pack
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          • Pecyn Ysgolion Cynradd [2023] / Primary School Pack (2023)
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          • Diwrnod Sanau Od (2023) / Odd Socks Day (2023)
        • BBC Teach Lesson
        • Twinkl and ABA resources
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        • Get involved on social media
        • Make a noise about bullying - The Premier League classroom resources
      • Anti-Bullying Week 2022: Reach Out
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      • Anti-Bullying Week 2019: Change Starts With Us
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      • Anti-Bullying Week 2015: Make a Noise about bullying
      • Anti-Bullying Week 2014: Let's stop bullying for all
      • Anti-Bullying Week 2013: The future is ours: safe, fun and connected
      • Anti-Bullying Week 2012: We're better without bullying

    Anti-Bullying Week

    The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) is the official organiser of Anti-Bullying Week and Odd Socks Day in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Anti-Bullying Week 2025 will take place from 10th to 14th November, with the theme: Power for Good.

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    Featured

    Odd Socks Day

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    Get Involved

    Our purpose at ABA is to unite against bullying. Please get involved - in any way you can - to support us.

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    Become a Member of the Anti-Bullying Alliance – Let’s Unite Against Bullying!

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Bystanders

ABA and our members have many resources to help support encouraging bystanders to become defenders or 'upstanders' in bullying situations. This page explores the role of bystanders and how they can help address bullying behaviour.

Young person walking on his own in a corridor looking at phone

What is a bystander?

A bystander is ‘a person who does not become actively involved in a situation where someone else requires help’ (Clarkson 1996, p6) and in this way is understood to be a passive observer, an onlooker who watches something happening, but stays on the sidelines and doesn’t intervene or get help, even if someone needs it. Bystanders are those people who slow down to look at a traffic accident, but don’t stop to offer assistance, the people who watch an argument on the street, and the crowd that gathers to watch a playground fight. They are the audience that engages in the spectacle, and watches as a drama unfolds. Though they don’t actively participate, they encourage the perpetrators, who will feel driven on by the audience.

Most of us have been a ‘bystander’ at some time. We justify it by saying that it’s natural to be curious about unusual events; that there may be good reasons for not getting involved in other people’s business, such as fear of getting hurt ourselves, and that we’re not doing any harm. Bystanding is not passive; witnesses to bullying play very different roles, some more active than others, and these contribute significantly to what takes place.

‘Doing nothing’ does have a real impact on events and may cause harm. To tackle bullying we must understand the responsibilities of peer and adult bystanders who want to seek solutions to bullying and take action where it is needed.

Learn more about the role of bystanders in the context of bullying as a group behaviour below:

Remote video URL

Find out more about bullying as a group behaviour here.

Module 1 of our free CPD online training covers the roles involved in bullying.

How can bystanders help when tackling bullying behaviour?

Research has clearly demonstrated that bystanders play a significant role in bullying. Proactive and preventative interventions implemented at individual, class, school, and community level have the potential to reduce bullying, alongside reactive strategies to deal with bullying incidents when they occur. The risks of encouraging children to intervene in bullying situations must also be acknowledged. 

We adults must also recognise our own bystanding behaviours and seek to model positive actions by looking at our own ‘systems, structures and policies and do some audits and research into how they may be framing, perpetuating and justifying bullying and harassment among pupils’ (Pallotta-Chiarolli 2005).

ABA and our members have many resources to help support encouraging bystanders to become defenders or 'upstanders' in bullying situations. Please find these below.

Resources for download

ABA Bystanders Briefing
The Incident at the School Gate - KS2 activity
The Incident at the School Gate - KS2 illustration

External Resources

What if I see someone being bullied?

Kidscape

"Bystander" Teaching Resources

Twinkl

Being the Upstander Presentation & Session Plan

Diana Award

NSPCC - Stop Speak Support school pack

Stop, speak, support is aimed at 11-16 year-olds who are 'bystanders' of online bullying

Helping Someone Else

BulliesOut

“Bystander – Don’t Do Nothing”

A campaign to encourage members of the public - especially young people - not to ignore serious instances of anti-social behaviour

Bullying and the peer group: A review

A study into the roles involved in bullying (Christina Salmivalli, 2009)

Victims and their defenders: A dyadic approach

Sainio, Veenstra, Huitsing and Salmivalli (2010)

Peer support: A strategy to help bystanders challenge school bullying

Helen Cowie and Nick Hutson, University of Surrey 2005

Tools & information

  • What is bullying?
  • All about bullying
    • A whole-school and setting approach
      • What is a whole-school or setting approach?
      • Our Anti-Bullying Foundations
      • The curriculum
      • Anti-bullying policies
      • Home-to-school transport
      • Peer support strategies
        • What are peer support schemes?
        • Bystanders
        • Top tips to help you with your peer support scheme
        • Examples of peer support schemes
        • Change Starts With Us: Creating solutions with young people
    • At-risk groups
    • Appearance targeted bullying
    • Bullying and the Law
    • Early years
    • Mental health
    • Online bullying
    • Prevalence and Impact
    • Preventing bullying
    • Reporting and recording bullying
    • Responding to bullying
    • Sexual and sexist bullying
    • Sectarian bullying behaviour
    • Working with parents and carers
  • Free CPD online training
  • Advice and support
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