Month: November 2022

Bystanders to Bullying

Schoolgirl crying on background of classmates teasing her

Someone who witnesses bullying, either in person or online, is a bystander. Friends, students, peers, teachers, school staff, parents, coaches, and other youth-serving adults can be bystanders. With cyberbullying, even strangers can be bystanders.

Youth involved in bullying play many different roles. Witnessing bullying is upsetting and affects the bystander, too. Bystanders have the potential to make a positive difference in a bullying situation by becoming an upstander. An upstander is someone who sees what happens and intervenes, interrupts, or speaks up to stop the bullying.

Youth who are bullied often feel even more alone because there are witnesses who do nothing. When no one intervenes the person being targeted may feel that bystanders do not care or they agree with what is happening. There are many reasons why a bystander may not interject, even if they believe that bullying is wrong. They may be afraid of retaliation or of becoming the target of bullying themselves. They might fear that getting involved could have negative social consequences.

An Upstander is someone who takes action when they witness bullying. Even one person’s support can make a big difference for someone who is being bullied. When youth who are bullied are defended and supported by their peers, they are less anxious and depressed than those who are not.

There are many things that bystanders to bullying can do to become upstanders:

  • Question the bullying behavior. Simple things like changing the subject or questioning the behavior can shift the focus.
  • Use humor to say something funny and redirect the conversation.
  • There is strength in numbers too! Bystanders can intervene as a group to show there are several people who don’t agree with the bullying.
  • Walk with the person who is the target of bullying to help diffuse potential bullying interactions.
  • Reach out privately to check in with the person who was bullied to let them know you do not agree with it and that you care. It makes a difference.
  • Be Someone’s Hero video in English or Spanish for an example of how to be an upstander.

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Teachers, schools, and other educators (faith-based, after-school, recreational) can help youth learn how to be more than just bystanders by showing and teaching moral engagement. Strategies to address student’s special needs at school can also help to prevent bullying and have positive outcomes for all students, especially tactics that use a team approach, foster peer relationships, and help students develop empathy.

When bystanders become upstanders it not only helps the targets of bullying, but shows other bystanders how to take action to prevent or address bullying.

Additional resources

Date Last Reviewed

October 23, 2018

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Nigerian Tech Company Builds First Female Humanoid in Africa

Technology Update:

A Nigerian tech company in Abuja, Uniccon Group, has reportedly manufactured Africa’s first humanoid Robot and named it ‘Omeife’.

Omeife is a 6 foot tall human-like robot that can speak 8 different languages including Igbo, English, French, Arabic, Kiswahili, Pidgin, Wazobia, and Afrikaans.

The idea for the robot began in 2020 and has been in development ever since. Omeife is run by Artificial intelligence also developed in Nigeria by Uniccon scientists.

The AI enables it to react in real time to the terrain and also conversation and voice prompts.

The CEO of the company Chuks Ekwueme has said the robot understands gestures also but has no facial expressions as a matter of preference by the makers.

His words:

“It’s not just multilingual, it has the ability to switch languages and interact with specific gestures—hand illustrations, smile and other bodily gestures—that match the tone of the conversation.”

Dockaysworld learnt that the robot’s nature is programmed to be African and avoid rude remarks while remaining polite and respectful.

Omeife can move around flat surfaces and also grip items.

Though robots are being developed to carry out human labour, the journey so far remains slow with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s ‘Optimus’ being another example. The robot can barely complete human tasks.

According to the CEO, Omeife is not built primarily for labour rather for intellectual capabilities.

While other African humanoid robot developments have been in the works before Omeife, Uniccon group is the first to announce its completion.

The company plans to mass produce the robot at a price of $30,000