From Bystander to Ally: A UU Approach to Bullying

Posted August 04, 2011

Children in the US today face an epidemic of bullying in school and at home through the internet and social media. Promise the Children is working on a program that will help UU Chuches to teach our youth to respond to bulling in a way that expresses UU values and enables them to feel empowered to make change in their communities..

Respect for the dignity of each person is a Unitarian Universalist core value. How do we respond to unkind and belligerent actions whether we are the one who is bullied, a bystander, or even the bully ourselves? How do we teach our children to deal with this behavior in a way that helps them to build character, learn compassion, and be a force for good?

It is said that the most important role in the bullying dynamic is that of the bystander. The bystander has the greatest capacity to stop bullying whether the bystander is another child ina bullying incident or an authority figure with the power to manage the environment on a more systemic level. How do we teach our children to be courageous? Do we even know bullying when we see it?

Anyone can be the target of bullying. GBLT youth are a prime target but anything can attract a bully: being new, too fat, too skinny, having a disability, a minority heritage, etc.

Promise the children is researching the resources that have been developed (and there are many) and will provide that information for religious education directors and youth programmers. We plan to also create workshops and RE material using that research tailored for UU youth.