Bystander education completes first class Published Feb. 26, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Mercedes Muro 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Bystander Education, a new Leadership Pathways course offered here, conducted its first iteration on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20. The course was designed by Roland DeLeon, Little Rock Air Force Base's sexual assault response coordinator, to educate Airmen on how to be an active bystander in all situations. "The class is designed to get people to evaluate who they are, who they are in a group, how do they operate in an organization," said DeLeon. "We're trying to help people understand situations for what they think they are versus what they really are." The entire course is made up of four blocks, which analyze individual bias, group and power dynamics, myths and costs of intervening, and techniques and intervention planning. The first block encompasses activities and discussions that have Airmen focus on themselves. "To be an active bystander, you have to identify who you are and temporarily set aside those things to get involved in a situation you may or may not understand," said DeLeon, during class instruction. The group dynamics and power dynamics block is made of group activities designed to educate participants on the factors of group settings and peer pressure. During the activities, students participated in simulated situations with factors. For example, students were asked why they would or would not help a man stumbling out of a bar in a parking lot in the middle of the night. "Group dynamics are always going to change when you add in a different factor," said Tech. Sgt. April Stanford, a victim's advocate from the 19th Operations Support Squadron. "A different factor can change a dynamic." Identifying personal factors can help analyze the myths and costs of intervening. This next block helps students analyze why they would or would not intervene based on their perception of what could happen. "When people come across a situation, they often debate about getting involved," said DeLeon, while teaching. "When they think about the costs of intervening, they create "walls" that stop them from intervening." The final block, techniques and intervention planning, instructs participants on utilizing methods while intervening. During this block, students were given a scenario to apply methods while considering factors and costs of intervention. Although the main intent of the class is to teach students to critically analyze situations and apply rational decision making processes, some might leave the class with a different perspective. "The class will open the student's eyes to see how the victims look at things," said Stanford. "It will give people the idea of what the victim is experiencing while the incident is occurring." To take Bystander Education, visit www.littlerock.af.mil/leadershippathways for more information.