Can we educate bystanders to react?

This article appears in Newsweek and is worthy of consideration.

There are groups of educators who believe that only by teaching

and conditioning responses from bystanders will those who watched

the recent rape of a 15-year old or those who heard cries for help

from Kitty Genovese decades ago have different outcomes.

The Mentors in Violence Prevention is one group which utilizes role

playing in a variety of possible responses to hypothetical situations.

The MVP program has evolved into the Green Spot program which

is being used by schools and universities across the country.

Research is being conducted to test, or attempt to test, the results of

the training when real-life situations are encountered. Because the

choices taught include delegating action to another, teen-age reticience

to "tell" may be overcome; delegation can be simply texting another

to ask them to call 911 or whatever action is needed.

But all of us need to be aware that if we witness something wrong, we

have a responsibility to take some action, passive or active as the case

may be. As parents we need to be educating our children about their

responsibilities and actions as well