For almost 30 years, the interest towards “peer defending” in response to bullying has been increasing. Defending might be oriented towards the victimized child (e.g., sitting together with them in the lunchroom, comforting them, signaling that the way they are treated is wrong) or towards children who engage in bullying (e.g. showing that their behavior is not approved, telling them to stop). Defending has been studied both in the context of offline and online bullying (Lambe et al., 2019).

Should we encourage more peer support and defending? “Yes” seems like an obvious answer. However, arguments against this have been put forward as well. First, it has been argued that adults, not peers, have the responsible to put an end to bullying and to help victimized children. Second, it has been proposed that defending might put those engaging in it risk – of feeling distressed, losing status, or becoming the next victim themselves. Third, it has been suspected that peer defending might not be helpful for the victimized children, but even harmful in some cases, due to stigmatizing or by increasing their feelings of helplessness.

Yes, adults are responsible for bullying prevention and intervention. However, mobilizing peer support can be critical in fulfilling that duty – observing changes in peer bystanders’ responses to bullying is one key mechanism by which children reduce their own bullying behavior (Saarento et al., 2015). Furthermore, evidence shows that the fears mentioned above are not well justified. Peer defenders tend to gain, rather than lose, both in terms of their own well-being and their peer status (Laninga-Wijnen et al., 2023; Malamut et al., 2021, 2023) – the only exception are children who are in a very vulnerable position to begin with (having a low status, being themselves victimized).

Regarding benefits to victimized children. even if peer defending does not necessarily end the bullying for good, defended victims experience less self-blame and humiliation, and less depressed affect, in comparison to victimized youth who are not defended. Finally, there are benefits for the whole classroom community. In classrooms where defending behaviors are common, bullying behavior happens less frequently (Salmivalli et al., 2010) and is more likely to decrease over time (Nocentini et al., 2013). Furthermore, dominance goals (a known risk factor for bullying behavior) are not associated with bullying behavior in classrooms where defending prevails  (Pan et al., 2023).

Involving bystanders to support and defend their victimized peers is a central component in several anti-bullying programs, and research shows it is a goal that can be realistically achieved (Garandeau et al., 2023). While applying these strategies to online settings presents additional challenges, fostering constructive peer responses in digital spaces could also strengthen the impact of cyberbullying interventions. Rather than relying solely on rules and adult oversight, cultivating supportive peer norms—both offline and online—may be key to building safer, more respectful communities for youth.

 

Christina Salmivalli

 

References

Garandeau, C. F., Turunen, T., Saarento-Zaprudin, S., & Salmivalli, C. (2023). Effects of the KiVa anti-bullying program on defending behavior: Investigating individual-level mechanisms of change. Journal of school psychology, 99, 101226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2023.101226

Lambe, L. J., Cioppa, V. D., Hong, I. K., & Craig, W. M. (2019). Standing up to bullying: A social ecological review of peer defending in offline and online contexts. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 45, 51–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.05.007

Laninga-Wijnen, L., Malamut, S. T., Garandeau, C. F., & Salmivalli, C. (2023). Does defending affect adolescents’ peer status, or vice versa? Testing the moderating effects of empathy, gender, and anti-bullying norms. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 33(3), 913–930. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12847.

 

Malamut, S. T., Trach, J., Garandeau, C. F., & Salmivalli, C. (2023). Does defending victimized peers put youth at risk of being victimized?. Child Development, 94(2), 380–394. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13866.

Malamut, S. T., Trach, J., Garandeau, C. F., & Salmivalli, C. (2021). Examining the Potential Mental Health Costs of Defending Victims of Bullying: a Longitudinal Analysis. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49(9), 1197–1210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00822-z.

Nocentini, A., Menesini, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2013). Level and change of bullying behavior during high school: a multilevel growth curve analysis. Journal of adolescence, 36(3), 495–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.02.004.

Pan, B., Garandeau, C. F., Li, T., Ji, L., Salmivalli, C., & Zhang, W. (2023). The dynamic associations between social dominance goals and bullying from middle to late childhood: The moderating role of classroom bystander behaviors. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(2), 349–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000776.

Saarento, S., Boulton, A. J., & Salmivalli, C. (2015). Reducing bullying and victimization: student- and classroom-level mechanisms of change. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 43(1), 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9841-x.