Bullying involves three key individuals or groups:
1. The bully
2. The target
3. The bystander
Depending on the circumstance, we may have played all of these roles at different times in our lives.

The bully is the person or persons who are causing harm. People who choose to bully want power and control. They try to exert power over the person they’re targeting by engaging in bullying behaviours. For the cycle to end, somebody needs to make the bully aware of how their comments and actions impact the people around them. Awareness has the potential to become change, but silence can’t lead to anything good.

The person being bullied is called the target. It’s important to see a difference between being bullied (which is caused by someone else) and being a victim (which is a label you give yourself—one that can follow you for the rest of your life). If you’re being bullied, you are not a victim. You are a smart, capable, caring, resilient human being who’s stuck in a bad situation. And you have more power to control how you’re treated than you think.

The person or persons who witness the bullying are called bystanders. Bystanders have the MOST power to stop bullying. Did you know that when bystanders intervene to stop bullying, bullying usually stops within 10 seconds?

Are you a bystander? You may think that you're not hurting anyone by sitting on the sidelines, but that's not true. Inactivity is contagious. One person doing nothing sends a message to everyone else that it’s okay to just stand there or to walk away. In truth, it’s not okay. We’re all human beings, and we all need dignity and respect.

“A deadly combination is a bully who gets what he wants from his target; a bullied child who is afraid to tell; bystanders who either watch, participate in the bullying, or look away; and adults who discount bullying as teasing, not tormenting; as a necessary part of growing up.” (Barbara Coloroso)

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