What is Bystander Revolution?

Simple acts of kindness, courage, and inclusion anyone can use to take the power out of bullying.

Bystander Revolution is a website offering practical, crowdsourced advice about simple things individuals can do to defuse bullying and help shift the culture. No matter who you are or what you’re facing, you can find personal stories, suggestions, and encouragement from someone who has dealt with a similar issue. Search by problem or solution to find tips from people who have been targets, people who have been bystanders, and even people who have bullied.

Try one of the ideas. Share one with a friend. You can be of real help right away. And if these ideas spread and become habits, it could change the dynamics forever.

Mission and History

Bystander Revolution was founded by author and parent MacKenzie Bezos to create a source of direct, peer-to-peer advice about practical things individuals can do to help defuse bullying. The ultimate goal is the discussion and spread of simple habits of kindness, courage, and inclusion.

The site launched in April of 2014 with unscripted content from dozens of passionate students, leaders and celebrities— over 300 short videos for a wide variety of problems and situations, each with a focus on simple but powerful actions bystanders can take to help. In April of 2016, the site was updated to include a number of additional resources: written tips crowdsourced from contributors and partner organizations; discussion materials to facilitate the use of its videos in classrooms and clubs; and The Weekly Stand, an initiative to spread simple habits of action.

Special thanks to our Ambassadors for their work advising the organization and spreading the word about Bystander Revolution online, in the media, and in their communities. These include Ambassador and Strategic Advisor Monica Lewinsky, Ambassador and early contributor Lily Collins, and our Youth Ambassadors: Hannah Alper, Jillian Frantz, Bobby Frantz, Molly Hernandez, Shereen Pimentel, Kat Zouboulakis, Carleigh O’Connell, Liam Clive, Oliver Clive, Natalie Madrigal, Paris Kirk, Katherine Schug, Jiaqi Gao, Alisha Woods, Ashleigh Weldon, and Gurwinder Singh.

We’d also like to thank Creative Director Michael E. Wood and the production team at Gates & Greene, our advisors, and all of our contributors, including the following leaders and celebrities for sharing their personal stories and advice to help get things started: Akon, Elizabeth Banks, Tom Brady, Jason Collins, Lily Collins, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gavin de Becker, Laura Dern, Nina Dobrev, Jenna Elfman, Ansel Elgort, Michael J. Fox, Missy Franklin, Neil Gaiman, John Green, Wayne Gretzky, Melissa Joan Hart, Salma Hayek, Olivia Holt, Lawrence Kasdan, Billie Jean King, Jared Leto, Demi Lovato, Vanessa Marano, Colum McCann, Jillian Michaels, Jason Mraz, Kenny Ortega, Amanda Palmer, Danica Patrick, Raghava KK, Tony Robbins, Chad Smith, George Stroumboulopoulos, Sam Trammell, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Rita Wilson, Nat Wolff, Shailene Woodley, and Dr. Philip Zimbardo.

Advisors

Dr. Dorothy Espelage is a Professor of Child Development in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has conducted research on bullying for 20 years and more recently has examined correlates of sexual harassment, dating violence, and homophobic teasing. She is co-editor of four published books including Bullying in North American Schools: A Social-Ecological Perspective on Prevention and Intervention and International Handbook of Bullying published by Routledge. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology. She has presented thousands of workshops and in-service training seminars for teachers, administrators, counselors, and social workers across the U.S. Her research focuses on translating empirical findings into prevention and intervention programming. She is currently funded by the CDC and is conducting a randomized clinical trial of a bullying prevention program in 36 middle schools. She authored a 2011 White House Brief on bullying among LGBTQ youth and attended the White House Conference. She is also funded by National Science Foundation to develop better methods to assess bullying among adolescents. Dr. Espelage has appeared on many television news and talk shows, including The Today Show, CNN, CBS Evening News, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Anderson.

Gavin de Becker is the nation’s best-known expert on the prediction and management of violence. His work has earned him three Presidential appointments and a position on a congressional committee. He was twice appointed to the President’s Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Justice, and he served two terms on the Governor’s Advisory Board at the California Department of Mental Health. His 375-member consulting firm advises government agencies, universities, police departments, corporations, and media figures on the assessment of threats and hazards. His book The Gift of Fear was the nation’s #1 Bestseller, on the New York Times Bestseller List for seventeen weeks, and his second book, Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children & Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane) was the #1 parenting book of 1999. He is a senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and has shared his philosophies about prevention of violence in several appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, and 20/20. He has been profiled in Time and Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and many others.

Dr. James McGee served as the Director of Psychology and Director of Law Enforcement and Forensic Services at Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland until his retirement in 2001. For more than 15 years, he served as Chief Psychologist of the Baltimore County Police Department, and he directed psychological services and Critical Incident Response programs for the Maryland State Police. He served as a special consultant to the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group, and he is a recipient of the Maryland Governor’s Award for Crime Prevention for his activities in hostage negotiations and crisis response. Dr. McGee is one of the country’s leading sports psychologists, having counseled Olympic Gold Medal winners and served as team psychologist to the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. He has drawn national recognition for the publication of “The Classroom Avenger,” the first forensic study of rampage school shooting incidents across the United States, in which bullying was often a significant precipitating factor.

Nicholas Carlisle is a human rights attorney, psychotherapist and the Executive Director of No Bully, an innovative program facilitating change inside schools by enlisting small teams of students to create inclusive and protective solutions for targets of bullying. He graduated from Oxford University and served as chairman of the non-profit section of Amnesty International in Britain before publishing a study on the effects of school bullying in the Journal of Traumatology with Professor Eric Rofes. He is a seasoned conference speaker, expert witness and commentator on school bullying for television and radio stations across the country. Having experienced firsthand the reality of bullying in his high school years, he is committed to creating schools where every child feels accepted by their peers.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stanford University, and taught previously at Yale, NYU and Columbia. He has served as President of the American Psychological Association, was twice President of the Western Psychological Association, and is the winner of the American Psychological Association Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Science of Psychology. His work has studied the psychological foundations of negative forms of social influence such as conformity, obedience, and the bystander effect. He is the founder of the Heroic Imagination Project, which is focused on translating the extensive research findings of social psychology and related fields into meaningful insights and tools that individuals can use in their everyday lives to transform negative situations and create positive change.

Richard Lieberman MA, NCSP, is Lead Consultant for the CalMHSA Region 11 K-12 Student Mental Health Initiative for Los Angeles County Office of Education. He is a lecturer in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, and from 1986-2011 he coordinated Suicide Prevention Services for Los Angeles Unified School District. Mr. Lieberman is co-author of School Crisis Prevention: the PREPaRE Model and Best Practices in Suicide Intervention (IV, V & VI) for the National Association of School Psychologists. He has written numerous book chapters and articles on youth suicide prevention, crisis intervention and responding to self -injurious students in the schools and appeared in many videos including the HBO Documentary Suicide. Mr. Lieberman serves on the Steering Committee for the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center and two task forces of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

Dr. Roxana Marachi is an Associate Professor of Education in the Lurie College of Education at San José State University where she teaches courses in Educational Psychology and supervises Teacher Candidates in the Middle Level Emphasis Program. She received her Ph.D in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan in 2003, where she studied the impacts of learning environments on students' motivation and behavior in school. Her research interests are focused on school climate and safety and the translation of research-to-practice in violence prevention efforts. Dr. Marachi served as Co-Chair of the Safe Schools and Communities Subcommittee of the American Educational Research Association from 2009-2012. She is currently working in collaboration with the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender on the School Engagement and Suspension Alternatives Project (SESAP).