Workshops

Active Bystander Intervention Workshop Notes

Prompt: 

How do you currently feel about the idea of offering someone help who looks like they need it, without being asked?

Discussion:

• An offer to help is a good way to approach situation:  “Is there anything i can do to help”

• Or ask for help

• Some kinds of help require consent: touch, "can i carry that for you"

• How you think a person wants to be helped vs how they want to be helped may be different, and they may not be ready for your solution

• Shanti Sena needs to focus on self, remaining calm, centered. offers of help from non centered place can inflame.  

• If you ask if they need help and they say no, you can still hang around to witness.  

• Even witnessing can be a problem if it collects a crowd, it can inflame the situation.  It is tricky. 

• A calm countenance is often the best thing to be offered. 

• Witnessing a thing can help heal it

• Bystander intervention can be intuitive. More attention/drama does not necessarily make a thing better. Sometimes fewer people is more effective than more. 

• When help is offered but refused, the refusal should be respected. 

• It can be traumatic when people don’t hear or acknowledge your request for help.

• Just being willing to sit with someone for a bit can help. 

• We need to increase empathy

• Asking before touching someone, and being patient for an answer, is important.