Navigating Diversity in Classrooms: The Role of Bystanders in Intergroup Bullying

Over the past fifty years, Europe and the Middle East have witnessed significant demographic shifts, resulting in increasingly diverse classrooms, with 70% of primary school-age refugees enrolled in school (UNHCR, 2022). Diverse classrooms offer children valuable opportunities to form friendships and engage with peers from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences (Killen et al., 2013). Such interactions can promote inclusive attitudes and behaviors (Gönültaş & Mulvey, 2023). However, diversity can also introduce opportunities for negative stereotypes, biases, and attitudes to be expressed (Levy & Killen, 2008). When this happens, children’s interactions may devolve into prejudice, discrimination, and exclusionary behaviors—such as intergroup bullying (Demir & Ozgul, 2019).
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What Is Intergroup Bullying?
Intergroup bullying refers to consistent hostile actions aimed at individuals due to their membership in a specific group. This group-based targeting may involve factors such as nationality, immigration/refugee status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability (Palmer & Abbott, 2018). This form of bullying is particularly harmful, often resulting in long-term psychological and educational consequences for those victimized (Killen et al., 2013; Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017).
The profound impact of intergroup bullying is highlighted in a qualitative study with Syrian refugee children in Türkiye (Demir & Ozgul, 2019). Some participants shared that, despite being enrolled in school, they rarely attended or had dropped out. For instance, one child explained:
"Initially, I attended school, but I don’t do it anymore. That’s because I was mistreated there. They said to me, ‘Go back to Syria. You are not wanted here.’ I felt sorry and decided not to go to school because I would cry all the time."
Another participant described her struggle with integration after immigrating to Türkiye at age five. She said she missed her friends in Syria and had trouble making new ones: 
"I had a fight with Turkish children and had to leave school. They kept taking away my ball and yelling at me, ‘Chase after the Syrian.’ I fought back, but later I was kicked out of school. I don’t feel like going back. I have lost my motivation. I’m not competent in either Arabic or Turkish, so school makes no sense to me."
These firsthand accounts reveal the devastating emotional and educational toll of intergroup bullying on refugee children, underscoring the importance of understanding and addressing this issue.

The Role of Bystanders in Preventing Intergroup Bullying
Bystanders play a critical role in either perpetuating or preventing bullying. By intervening, bystanders can challenge the norms that fuel intergroup bullying and create a safer, more inclusive environment (Salmivalli et al., 2011). Yet, stepping in is not always straightforward. The process of intervening involves several complex decisions, as outlined in the five-step intervention model: (1) recognizing the bullying, (2) assessing the situation as an emergency, (3) feeling responsible to intervene, (4) determining the most effective way to help, and (5) taking action (Nickerson et al., 2014).
In cases of intergroup bullying, the victim’s identity becomes particularly significant. Refugees, often a visible "out-group," are frequent targets (Gönültaş & Mulvey, 2019). According to the UNHCR's Global Trends report, 31.6 million refugees worldwide need international protection, and 40% of them are children (UNHCR, 2023). These refugee children face heightened risks of psychological distress (Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011), and potential intergroup bullying in schools.

Building Social Cohesion
In host societies, majority group children often wield the social power to either include or exclude others, making their reactions to refugee peers crucial for fostering inclusive classrooms. For example, a simple storybook intervention in which children were asked to focus on the emotions of the protagonist – a Syrian child whose family fled and would be joining their school – resulted in higher prosocial behavior intentions toward the refugee child (Taylor & Glen, 2020). More research is needed to understand if such interventions also work to promote bystander intervention in cases of intergroup bullying. 
As our societies become increasingly diverse, focusing on how to reduce intergroup bullying and to support children’s prosocial bystander behavior becomes vital. Through evidence-based interventions, we can build inclusive school environments, where all students feel valued, safe, and accepted, that not only celebrate diversity but also promote wider social cohesion.

By Serengeti Ayhan, Bilkent University, & Laura K. Taylor, University College Dublin