Marissa Santa Maria

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-021
November 23, 02015
The class conference helped me find where I had good concepts and where to improve on my
writing. I needed to expand upon what I was writings the reader will understand exactly what I
am trying to accomplish in the thesis. Overall I am confident about my thesis and how it is
constructed. I hope that the reader will take away valuable information from the sources I chose.

What one does the other follows

There are countless actions and ways people think that may not always be the right idea.
Thinking quick on your feet and deciding to do something or not isn't always easy especially if
you don't know the whole story. Events occur everyday where we have to make a decision and
see if it is a decision worth making. Depending on how you were raised may have a lot to do
with how you react to a victim being bullied. Some may walk away and others may step in to
help. Why do people do this? Why do some chose to ignore acts of injustice while others act
upon them?
We have all witnessed someone getting picked on or even a serious crime. Whether you
do something about it or not is completely up to you. Many events in history such as slavery and
how Hitler treated Jews in Nazi Germany amaze me. It opened my eyes a little and made me
think what other people opinions were on what was going on in the world. They couldn't just
think that everything was ok, could they? Even if they didn't think it was right what is one
persons voice over the power of everyone else.

During the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany there was an American, Nora Wall, who lived
there during this time. In a documentary of her time there she described Germany as happy and
colorful. Before Hitler, Germany was in a depression so when they started getting jobs and food
they viewed him as their savior. Even though life seemed perfect at the time, it was far from it.
Many people were opposed to Hitlers ways because they knew the things that he was up to were
not good, but citizens couldn't say anything. For those who didn't like Hitler they had to act as if
they did. If you spoke against him in any way you would be arrested and people would snitch on
anyone and everyone if they heard what you were saying against the Fuhrer. A great majority of
people living in Europe during the Nazi rule loved Hitler and even viewed his as a God. Many
people in Germany were hurting from the Depression and having a power figure to bring the
economy back was great to them of course. They were mesmerized by his doings so they may
have let other things slide. If I was an American like Nora living in Germany during this time I
wouldn't know what was right or wrong. That wasn't my home, I wouldn't know what the
customs there were. Even if I wanted to start a rebellion and speak out against Hitler I couldnt.
He had too many people on his side and threatened you if you went against him. So many were
forced to live under this Nazi rule.
I found that to be a great example because it is a huge event in history that to this day
many Germans are ashamed of. So to go further on my question, I really wanted to figure out
why people ignore theses signs during times of injustice. I knew the basics ideas, people mind
their own business and are taught to not get involved. Bystander was a big word that stuck out
with me. If you're not doing something when someone is getting hurt or unfairness is taking
place then you are sometimes just as much to blame.

Bystanders role was something that interested me and I learned more about how they
affect certain events such as bullying in an article written by Dr. Ken Rigby. I learned that bullies
thrive off of a big audience so when there are a lot of people watching he or she is more likely to
keep antagonizing the poor victim than if it was just the two of them. They need an audience, and
with all of these people around that makes it less likely for someone to step up and intervene. Dr.
Rigby states that over 50% of all bullying events stop when a bystander decides to intervene.
Those are very good odds in my book, even if you dont want to step in by yourself you can
always look at someone to join in so you can diffuse the situation. Its better to speak up and see
what the outcome is rather than not saying anything and wondering later what may have
happened if you got involved. You have a voice, so use it.
The reasoning behind the mind of a bully is amazing. I never thought that the number of
people could have a major impact on what the person doing the act does, and affects what the
bystanders do as well. People follow what others do. You never want to be the first person to
answer a question in class because you might embarrass yourself, the same rule applies here in
the case of bully and bystander.
One of the most powerful forms of evidence that I found was a clip that I saw on twitter a
while back which was about sexual harassment. Totally different but similar to my inquiry in the
fact that it shows how doing something, intervening in a situation can change the outcome
entirely for the benefit of the person being harmed. I am always wanting to help people and will
take care of someone if they need it so seeing this video really opened my eyes that I was doing
the right thing. I have been told multiple times that the victim can handle it themselves or to
leave it alone, don't get involved but I would anyway.

The video had a handful of different scenes which portrayed in this case a women, being
sexually harassed or bullied. All of the scenes the first time you see them are the men saying
thank you to whoever was watching what was going on for keeping quiet. Then the next scenes
are people helping the women and they are thanking the person helping them because they felt
they couldn't handle it on their own. You are always helping the one who is doing the wrongful
act when you don't do anything. To bring it back to the bystander role, there is always someone
who can take action and help someone in bad situations.
This video made me realize that people you don't even expect can do terrible things. I
have some personal experience in being a bystander at a party. This girl was very drunk so my
friends and I were all keeping an eye out for her to make sure she didn't drive. People from many
different high schools were at this house so I lost track of the girl. No one could find her and
some of the football team finally went upstairs and she was locked in a room with a guy that no
one knew. My friends knocked the door down and thankfully got her out before the boy did
anything to hurt her. What was sad was I saw many people go upstairs and come back down like
nothing was wrong, they just didn't want to ruin the party.
A writer during the Enlightenment by the name of Rousseau had very strong opinions of
women in the eighteenth century. He wasn't the biggest fan of women even being thought of as
equals to men. They had no rights. Their only duties were to cook, clean and of course take care
of the children while the husbands are at work. He was big on gender roles and thought women
should stay locked up in their homes. Their role as women was to please their husbands
whenever they needed.
I learned about this man Rousseau in my history class taken here at UNCC. I was
intrigued with what his views were on women but not in a good way. It was more so disgust that

a man and I'm sure other men thought of women to be essentially worthless. Women obviously
couldn't stand up for themselves they would be made a mockery of. Only a few women were
brave enough to try and succeeded. The life that women had to live during the enlightenment
must have been depressing. Its so amazing to see how much gender roles have changed
throughout hundreds of years. Now women can run for president and own businesses. Its
amazing to think about how the actions of women in the eighteenth century shaped the way
society is in the twenty first century.
To focus more on the concept of bullying and what prompts people to bully, I found an
article with four women's stories of why they were bullies. Each story was of course completely
different from the next but they all tied together and had one important thing in common. All of
the women who were bullies at a young age said they had problems with self confidence, so their
coping mechanism was to take it out on others. They all have kids of their own know and
wouldn't want anyone to treat their child the way they treated kids. These women's actions not
only affected the victims but them as well. No one ever stopped them so they didn't think it was
wrong of them to do so. They still to this day feel bad for what they put people through and it has
taken quite a toll on them.

This is interesting to me because I would never think that the bully feels the brunt of their
harsh actions on others. Growing up I was always made fun of for some of my features. I had a
really small head when I was little so my ears looked huge. I never had self conscious feelings
about myself until someone pointed out a bunch of my flaws. I would come home crying after
school because of the mean things kids would say or do to me. School was the place I hated
going for so long because I connected school to getting bullied. Soon the kids got bored of me

and started to pick on my younger brother. He sucked his thumb when he was little so he had
buck teeth. We joked about it at home all the time because we looked at it as being cute. I never
saw anything wrong in poking fun at him because it was harmless. Then kids started bullying
him because of his teeth. It was ok when my family and I said it but not when someone else does.
Looking back I was the only one to stop the bully, no one ever said anything when I was made
fun of so I had to endure a lot of pain.
The final source I found which helped me answer my inquiry along with the others was
an article written by Ervin Staub. He is a Holocaust survivor who talks about what a bystander is
and how they played a major role during World War II. He states Bystanders, people who
witness but are not directly affected by the actions of perpetrators, help shape society by their
reactions.. This helps me as a reader fully understand what a bystander is and why they ignore
situations. If the problem is not directly affecting their personal lives then why should they
intervene? Thats what goes through their minds. Ervin says that he wasn't sure how people could
ignore the killings of millions of Jews. Collaborators are those that were not directly involved in
the round-up and murder of Holocaust victims, but who may have assisted the Nazis by
providing them with information or supplies.(Ervin Staub) Something held the townspeople
back from saying anything because they could easily smell the burning flesh.
Reading about what Ervin thought of bystanders made my inquiry more personal. He tells
us how all of those people ignored the acts of violence towards the Jews. One powerful man can
make millions think that life is perfect.
In conclusion I found many sources that answered and gave me background information
on the subject. Hearing the different voices of people who were doing the acts of injustice and

the victims who had to deal with what was given to them helped answer my inquiry. Things
didn't change overnight for the women in the Enlightenment, it took time but it was worth it.
People ignore acts of injustice because it doesn't change their life one way or another. People
who try and stop acts of injustice know if they don't stand up for what it right, nothing will
change. What one person does, others will follow.