ABSTRACT

This qualitative-phenomenological study navigates the lived

experiences of students in Visayan Village Central Elementary School.
The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the lived
experiences of Grade 6 bystanders in bullying incidents. This study is
gleaned through the theory of Darley and Latane as cited by Sword
(2015) which explained diffusion of responsibility as one of the reasons
for the bystander effect. They discovered a paradox: that the greater the
number of eyewitnesses, the less each witness felt responsible to help.
Thus, no one helps the victim since everyone assumes someone will
help. There were five (5) Grade 6 students who participated in the
individual in-depth interview. As to the participants’ experiences, three
major themes emerged: emotional discomfort, desire to intervene and
mental distress. With regards to their responses during the bullying
incident, three major themes emerged: heroic reaction, self-preservation,
and bystander inaction. Lastly, their realizations in the context of
bullying revealed three major themes: stop victimization, build
goodwill, craft anti-bullying programs, and report bullying incidents to
proper school authorities. The results are deemed significant to teachers,
administrators and other stakeholders to create and support programs
that raise awareness of bystanders in bullying incidents.

Keywords: education, bullying, grade 6 students, qualitative-

phenomenological research, thematic analysis, Tagum City, Philippines