Becoming a Positive Bystander

Leadership training fosters a compassionate school community

By Maya Douglas
Observer Contributor

Jason Zelesky, Dean of Students, recently led a Leadership for Life Bystander training in the Murphy Conference room. Zelesky said the goal of the program is to imagine a college campus community which uses its abilities to look out for others at all times. He said there is a need to build a strong, safe, and respectful community.

The Bystander Program has been able to make a difference and report concerns to invoke change. According to Zelesky, the program started six years ago because of an issue on campus. One studnet walked by another student who was crying in the hallway, and that student admitted that he/she was not okay.

Together, they walked to Zelesky’s office and the student received help. Zelesky said the student had planned to take his/her life that day, but thankfully the bystander stepped in and changed the situation in a positive way.

One effective way to be a positive bystander is to walk around with your head up, making eye contact, and paying attention to your surroundings, Zelesky said. Many people walk around with phones, earbuds, or listening to music or texting.

“People are constantly occupied,” he said. “It is becoming more challenging to be a positive bystander.”

However, every day at least ten items end up in the lost and found. Zelesky said the beautiful thing is that our lost belongings get turned in rather than taken. There was only one incident of theft in the past year.

Zelesky has worked on five colleges and he said he has never seen that level of empathy on any other campus.

Zelesky said there is a culture of distraction which has now become normative. There is a lack of commitment to people, to each other. He said it is important to create a culture of positive bystanders, where people can learn to recognize a situation and intervene or help.

Zelesky discussed the bystander effect, which states that it is more common for people to not help others in need. He said at times there is a psychological disconnect between doing the right thing and not doing the right thing because of uncertainty or the risk of embarrassment. Zelesky challenges students to reject that mentality and help people for the sake of being good.

According to Zelesky, over 3,000 people walk in and out of the campus school doors Monday through Thursday. “We are like a small town,” Zelesky said. He mentioned that almost half of the students have been sexually abused before coming to MWCC. He said knowing this statistic gives awareness, which allows students the opportunity to practice sensitivity on campus when it comes to these topics. Being a good bystander is knowing who is part of the community and how to react.