Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Bullying Experiment and the Bystander Effect


I used to be bullied and one or twice I was beat up as a kid. From a young age, I was also a follower of Christ. So I should have known better, but later on in middle school I was drawn along with a group to verbally harass/bully someone else until we were all confronted about it with a parent-teacher conference. I’m glad I was confronted by the school and my mother (my dad was not around since they were divorced) and finally could severe ties with that group of “friends.”

Bullying (いじめ) is a headline issue in Japan, often with horrifyingly sadistic stories and many times leading to suicide. I’ve sat in on classes and talked to teachers and students in Japan about how they would approach discipline problems, such as bullying. In the end, they have no solutions and it never crosses their mind to think of some sort of punishment/discipline for the offender. For one thing, confrontation is often taboo and difficult to address in Japanese culture, where the emphasis is on keeping up appearances and not rocking the boat.

What has been your experience with bullying and/or confrontation? After watching this video, tell us what action would you take in a similar situation?



The Bullying Experiment

What did you think about the bullying experiment video as it focused on the reluctance of people to intervene?

One time in the town of Nishinomiya, I crashed my bike and fell on the sidewalk with a cut on my knee. I was shocked when the people walking by passed on without looking in my direction or asking if I was okay.

In Confucian values, the relationship between father and child or boss and worker are clear-cut, but there is no corresponding obligation between strangers. But of course the problem is not limited only to Eastern countries.

When we look at the bystander effect, it has a great deal to do with questions of identity. When self-identity gets blurred unto anonymity, being influenced or coerced into blending in with the crowd, people stop thinking for themselves and become indifferent, apathetic. People are dehumanized into blindly following authority, customs, and social norms. In the case of being a witness to bullying or a crime, the fear of physical danger or especially of other people’s opinion about us is determinative. Being overly status-conscious and worried about ostracism can be paralyzing. We should remember that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

Being secure in your identity – even apart from your circles of friendship – means having an inner strength to go against the flow of popular opinion. My identity is in Christ and how I think and act flows from that. As Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” As part of His body, the family of God, that is, the church universal, my fellowship circle is that much stronger.

What are your circles? How do they influence you? How secure are you in your self-identity? If you saw someone being harassed on a train, what would you do? Have you ever thought of that scenario before?




The Bystander Effect

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