OCTOBER 2021

THE
BYSTANDER
EFFECT
AWARENESS PROJECT
ELINOR CASH, AMBER HELFRICH, JEFFERY SEELY, SLOANE TIPTON

PROPOSED TO THE
BYU-HAWAII TITLE IX OFFICE
THE BYSTANDER EFFECT VIDEO
PROJECT STORYBOARD
PROPOSAL
OUR MISSION
The Bystander Effect is a phenomenon with First, the screen is black. All the
dangerous consequences. Our group proposes viewer can hear is muffled shouting.
a month-long awareness campaign to spread
understanding of this complex issue in a way
that will resonate with the students of BYU-
Hawaii. Our proposal includes:

A poster to promote awareness about the

Bystander Effect
The viewer next sees a dark room
A video to be featured on Title IX-related
through the view of someone waking up.
social media
Four social media posts to allow the target
audience to see and spread promotional
material
Blog content to provide more information
on the Bystander Effect and what readers
can do to counter it
An awareness event to instill our message
The camera pans over to a wall. The viewer
hears muffled shouting and crying coming
from the other side of the wall.

The camera pans over to a phone next to

the bed. A hand reaches to the phone.

The person dials 911 but hesitates

instead of pressing call.
The screen then fades to black and white
POTENTIAL POSTER text appears, asking the viewer what they
The poster text can be changed to include would do in this situation. Then, the text
the Title IX office phone number and other
prompts the viewer to take action when they
relevant information.
see dangerous activity.
 SA M P LE SOCIAL
M E D I A POST
Images similar to these will
be posted to the BYUH
Counseling office Instagram
and Facebook. There will be
a total of four posts
uploaded once a week that
highlight a victim of the
Bystander Effect.

SAMPLE BLOG POST

Prom o t i o n al material such as social m e d i a p o s t s o r p o s t e r s c o u l d p o t e n t i a l l y i n v i t e v i e w e r s t o v i s i t t h e T i t l e
IX w e b s i t e where they can learn more i n f o r m a t i o n . T h i s b l o g p o s t i s a n e x a mp l e o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t c o u l d
be f o u n d on the Title IX website.

Why you need to know about the bystander effect

What is the bystander effect? Use the 5 “D’s” to tell if someone needs help:
Have you ever heard of the “bystander effect”? 1. Discern if there is a need to intervene.
The term refers to an event where the more 2. Decide what action to safely take.
people around, the less likely someone is to 3. Directly act or speak, such as asking them,
help a person who is in distress. And on the “Are you ok?”
flip side, when there are few people around, 4. Distract by removing the victim or changing
someone is more likely to help a person in the focus.
distress. The reason this happens is that when 5. Delegate by asking others to help
there is a crowd, there is a shared
responsibility and thus, people are less likely Conclusion
to take action. The bystander effect is an event where the
more people there are around, the less likely
What can you do to help? someone is to help a person in distress. The
You may ask ‘what can I do to overcome the way to combat this is to simply be aware of
bystander effect?’. The answer is to simply be this phenomenon. Remember the 5 “D’s” to
aware of it. Studies show that when one is tell if someone needs help: discern, decide,
educated on the subject they are more likely directly act or speak, distract, and delegate.
to act. Asking someone if they need help,
LATA N É , B IBB, and JOHN M. DARLEY. “BY S T A N D E R ‘ A P A T H Y . ’ ” A m e r i c a n
stepping up, speaking loudly Scie n t i s t , vol. 57, no . 2, Sigma Xi, The S c i e n t i f i c R e s e a r c h S o c i e t y , 1 9 6 9 ,
pp. 2 4 4 – 6 8, http://www.jstor.org/stable / 2 7 8 2 8 5 3 0 .
BY S T ANDE R E F F E CT AWARE NE S S E VE NT
One of the best ways to drive a message home is to hold an awareness event. That is
why at the end of Bystander Effect awarness month we will hold an event that is sure
to solidify our message in our audience's minds
EV E N T OVERVIEW
The main goal of the event is to
spread awareness of the
Bystander effect and to encourage
students to take action when they
witness an emergency. The event
will feature a guest speaker from
the Title IX office, a scavenger
hunt, a prize, and pizza. The
purpose of the scavenger hunt is
to teach participants that
emergencies could happen
anywhere on campus.
EV E N T OVERVIEW
7pm- Invited guest
speaker speaks to
participants about the
Bystander Effect and how
it impacts the students on
campus
7:30pm- Introduce
scavenger hunt and split
participants into groups
7:45pm- Begin scavenger
hunt
8:45pm- Winner of the
scavenger hunt is
announced and pizza is
served. As participants
come to get pizza, they
will be given a small flyer
about the Bystander
Effect.
EVENT DETAILS
Occurs March 30th, 2022 7-9:30 pm
Takes place at the BYU-H Pavilion
Requires approximately eight volunteer
students
Offers pizza and prizes as an incentive
for participation
SCAVENGER HUNT RULES
1. Each team will be given a piece of
paper and the hint to their first
location on a slip of paper
2. Location hints will guide teams to
places where possible emergencies
might occur. A possible hint might be:
"An emergency might occur even while
you eat lunch with your friends. Be
sure to keep an eye out while you eat
at this place!" This clue leads
participants to the cafeteria
3. When teams find a location, they will
meet a volunteer student who will
confirm their guess. The student will
sign the team' s paper and give them
the next clue
4. Once students have signatures from
all five volunteers, they return to the
Pavilion
5. The first team to return will receive
tickets to the Hub
EXPENSES AND SUPPLIES
FIRST PLACE PRIZE
Ticket to the Hub x 5
FLYERS
100 flyers at 10 cents/flyer = $10
PIZZA
10 Domino's Pizza at $25/pizza
including delivery fees = $275
TOTAL = $285