{"id":320,"date":"2026-03-05T15:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/?p=320"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:22:17","slug":"intervention-at-the-roll-of-a-dice-the-new-approach-to-neveroks-bystander-intervention-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/2026\/03\/05\/intervention-at-the-roll-of-a-dice-the-new-approach-to-neveroks-bystander-intervention-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Intervention at the Roll of a Dice: The new approach to #NeverOK\u2019s Bystander Intervention Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are\u00a0very\u00a0excited\u00a0to launch our newly developed and piloted Bystander Intervention game-play style session for both student and staff groups at Bath!\u00a0In this blog,\u00a0Dan, our Student Training Officer,\u00a0explains\u00a0why\u00a0and how\u00a0they\u00a0developed\u00a0this\u00a0session\u00a0from\u00a0a new and\u00a0interesting\u00a0angle.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interested in the session? Request a session for student\u00a0groups\u00a0<\/span><\/i>here<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and staff\u00a0groups\u00a0<\/span><\/i>here<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bystander Intervention at the University of Bath<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the University of Bath\u2019s #NeverOK campaign,\u00a0bystander\u00a0intervention is\u00a0an important part of\u00a0supporting a safe,\u00a0accountable\u00a0and inclusive community.\u00a0<\/span>All\u00a0of\u00a0our\u00a0students and staff complete\u00a0eModule\u00a0chapters on being an active bystander when they begin their journey at Bath, supporting our\u00a0<\/span>community\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0skills\u00a0to\u00a0intervene\u00a0in\u00a0and\/or\u00a0<\/span>report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0anything\u00a0unwanted or unacceptable\u00a0that\u00a0they see or experience.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0very\u00a0difficult\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/span>completely\u00a0<\/span><\/i>ready and prepared all the time to step\u00a0in as an\u00a0active\u00a0bystander\u00a0\u2013\u00a0each incident is unique and presents its own challenge.\u00a0This does not, of course, excuse me or anyone from taking any action at all.\u00a0That's\u00a0why knowing about\u00a0<\/span>the 5Ds\u00a0of Bystander Intervention<\/span><\/a>\u00a0can improve your confidence and help you understand how and when to intervene.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond just knowing the 5Ds (an important foundation!), many students and staff are keen to take their understanding to the next level, and we are excited to launch our newly developed and piloted Bystander Intervention game-play style session for\u00a0students and staff\u00a0at the university.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What better way to simulate unpredictable scenarios\u00a0and\u00a0behaviours in a controlled environment, than\u00a0through\u00a0a\u00a0story driven\u00a0role-play\u00a0game?<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As with all #NeverOK sessions,\u00a0my\u00a0intention is to not just inform and educate, but to\u00a0<\/span>inspire\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and\u00a0<\/span>influence positive behaviours<\/span><\/b>. This can be a high bar to reach when it comes to running\u00a0sessions, and the challenge\u00a0inspired\u00a0me to stray from the more predictable \u2018workshop\u2019 or \u2018lecture\u2019 style delivery.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0designed\u00a0this #NeverOK Bystander Intervention session as an interactive\u00a0dice rolling adventure, where\u00a0four\u00a0fictional\u00a0characters\u00a0are taken on a journey\u00a0around a fictional\u00a0university town,\u00a0and are\u00a0met\u00a0with\u00a0a series of\u00a0challenging\u00a0events.\u00a0<\/span>Participants work together with their team to consider their character\u2019s background, sensitivities and relationships, and to reach a decision on what to do in each scenario.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you take a step back and let your more confident friend respond to that text?\u00a0Do you take direct action\u00a0when a\u00a0drunk man approaches\u00a0a customer?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>How do you<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>respond to the responsibility handed to you by another character?<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our new Bystander Intervention session has been carefully designed to explore potentially harmful events without explicitly detailing or having to respond to them in the simulation. The explorative space offers the chance to consider missed opportunities, further action that could be taken and the nuances of social dynamics within the story as it plays out.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing the game requires emotional intelligence, social awareness and the ability to be flexible with what you think you know!\u00a0Reach as high a score as you can by\u00a0fully\u00a0explaining the\u00a0<\/span>why\u00a0<\/span><\/b>behind your decisions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Careful though, the game master can challenge some of those decisions!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At present, there are 3 versions of the game each with different themes:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

General:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>a mix of different scenarios that cover a variety of different<\/span>
\nmisconducts (sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sexual Harassment:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0personal boundaries,\u00a0sexism\u00a0and relationships<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Racism:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>microaggressions, racial dynamics and positive discrimination<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The session runs for\u00a0<\/span>1.5-2 hours<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and always aims to include an opportunity to\u00a0<\/span>reflect\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and\u00a0<\/span>discuss\u00a0<\/span><\/b>at the end.\u00a0The\u00a0session is currently suitable for\u00a0<\/span>groups of up to 20.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If the session sounds interesting to you,\u00a0you can r<\/span>equest a session for student groups\u00a0<\/span><\/i>here<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and staff groups\u00a0<\/span><\/i>here<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0(this link will take you to email our Staff Training Officer).<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interested to learn more about the\u00a0birth\u00a0of\u00a0Bystander Intervention?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Bystander Intervention became recognised, the\u00a0<\/span>Bystander Effect was proposed in 1964,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0declaring\u00a0a psychological phenomenon where individuals were, and are, less likely to help a victim when others are present.\u00a0It was also known as \u201cdiffusion of responsibility\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bystander Effect\u00a0stated\u00a0that the more bystanders there were present, the less likely any one of them would intervene or step in to help.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in 2019, a review of 219 real-world incidents recorded on CCTV across the UK, the Netherlands and South Africa found\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span><\/b>9 out of 10<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0incidents, at least one bystander,\u00a0but typically several,\u00a0intervened to help the victim.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0This\u00a0<\/span>debunked\u00a0<\/span><\/b>the\u00a0previously held notion\u00a0and\u00a0acknowledged that\u00a0<\/span>in truth,\u00a0people\u00a0generally do\u00a0want to step in,\u00a0help\u00a0and stand up against an injustice.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are\u00a0very\u00a0excited\u00a0to launch our newly developed and piloted Bystander Intervention game-play style session for both student and staff groups at Bath!\u00a0In this blog,\u00a0Dan, our Student Training Officer,\u00a0explains\u00a0why\u00a0and how\u00a0they\u00a0developed\u00a0this\u00a0session\u00a0from\u00a0a new and\u00a0interesting\u00a0angle.\u00a0\u00a0 Interested in the session? Request a session for student\u00a0groups\u00a0here, and...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1987,"featured_media":321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neverok"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/136\/2026\/03\/NeverOk-Plasma-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd4Poz-5a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1987"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/never-ok\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}