Creating positive and safe school environments is more than policy and discipline—it is involving the student to be an active participant in shaping their culture. Student upstander training is an effective teaching tool that develops the confidence, empathy, and leadership skills necessary in youth to take action against bullying and injustice. But most importantly, it develops student voice and action, which are the most important elements of successful bully prevention in schools.
When students know they are being heard and encouraged to be upstanders, the trickle-down effect can spread throughout the whole school population. That’s how upstander training prepares students to be changemakers—and why it is a critical component of any modern anti-bullying plan.
From Bystander to Upstander: A Shift in Mindset
At the centre of upstander student education is a belief that each student possesses the potential to assist in creating positive change among his or her peers and community. The majority of students do not condone bullying—but there are too many who do nothing about it for fear of reprisals, lack of knowledge about what to do, or expecting another student to act. Upstander training challenges students to progress from helpless bystanders to active allies.
By educating students to witness bullying, react positively, and step in for the victims, upstander programs take away bullies’ social power and give greater strength to the voice of the community. This attitude shift is part of school-based bully prevention, which makes it clear that offensive behaviour won’t be accepted from classmates.
Encouraging Student Voice through Empathy and Awareness
Successful upstander training is not a case of handing students a script—it is far more about developing empathy and understanding. Sessions begin by initially teaching students how to recognise what bullying is, how it hurts victims, and how staying quiet can be seen as a form of support.
Role-play activities, discussions, and exercises assist students to learn:
- How to recognise the social and emotional effects of bullying
- How to stand up for an individual who is being bullied without making matters worse
- When to involve a supportive adult
- That they are not alone in standing up for a safer school environment
This not only equips students with the language with which to act out but also acknowledges their experiences and perceptions, which make them more agentic. Empowering student voice, through upstander training for students, creates increased levels of sense of belonging and responsibility.
Promoting Collective Action and Peer Leadership
Maybe the biggest advantage of upstander training is that it encourages group action. Students are taught to stand up for each other, stand together, and be responsible as a group for their school’s social culture. This makes prevention of bullying a collective goal and not an individual problem.
These programs may range from peer mentoring and student-initiated campaigns to class-action projects. These programs enable students to be leaders, build teamwork, and directly influence school values and expectations. When students are the leaders, they inspire others to do the same.
These schools experience long-term transformation in how the students treat each other, since peer expectations are more powerful than rules imposed by adults.
Creating Safe Reporting and Response Lines
One aspect of providing students with voice is to provide them with safe, non-judgemental lines through which they can speak out—either against bullying they see happening or to which they have themselves been subjected. Upstander training must involve reporting, how the school will respond, and what assistance can be made accessible.
This availability is central to establishing trust and confirming the attitude that concerns from students will be heard. It shatters fear or humiliation that usually accompanies reporting, a strong obstacle in school bully prevention through traditional means.
Integrating Upstander Training in School Culture
Upstander training, in itself, must be more than a single assembly in order to be effective. Schools must include it as part of the overall curriculum and culture, with repeated reinforcement of the concepts through activities, classroom discussions, and teacher modelling.
A few main steps to incorporate upstander training into school culture are
- Conducting annual or continuous upstander workshops
- Promoting student-led activities in newsletters or school assemblies
- Training staff and teachers to reinforce and support student action
- Recognising upstander behaviour in students
When schools give consistent praise and rewards for student initiative, it becomes part of regular culture—not an exception.
Final thoughts
Student upstander training is perhaps the most effective student voice, leadership, and empathy developer available. It allows youth to own their space and make a positive difference—not only by not harming, but by being an active agent in creating a culture of respect and acceptance.
With a broader strategy for bully prevention in schools, upstander training repositions the message from punishment to empowerment. It reminds them that they don’t have to be passive bystanders—they can be courageous allies, change leaders, and kindness champions.
