You Asked. We Listened. And the Result is Version 4
The Bringing in the Bystander® License Holder Survey Results and the Next Chapter
By Casey Laplante and Meera Seshadri
Bringing in the Bystander® has always evolved in response to what students, facilitators, and campus communities need to create meaningful prevention and lasting change.
At Soteria Solutions, we were inspired to develop Bringing in the Bystander® College Version 4 because you asked and we listened.
The people who know Bringing in the Bystander® best are the campuses and students who understand and are committed to its message.
Bringing in the Bystander® is built on decades of research. But a curriculum cannot remain static while the communities it serves evolve. Everything changes. The challenges and opportunities that prevention professionals face change, as do the socio-political conditions within which young people live and learn.
The people implementing prevention programs often have some of the most valuable insights into what is working and what isn’t. So, we asked you. We listened to current and former licensed partners, campus administrators, prevention professionals, facilitators, trainers, students, and researchers in the field. We also drew upon years of implementation and facilitation experience.
We saw an opportunity to thoughtfully evolve Bringing in the Bystander® for today's campus communities.
What We Heard
Through license holder feedback and the survey, our partners shared why Bringing in the Bystander® continues to matter to their institutions.
Among the many reasons campuses identified choosing the program were: 1) primary prevention focus; 2) evidence-based foundation; 3) comprehensive resources; 4) ability to support safer and more inclusive communities; and 5) the Train-the-Trainer model.
But we also asked an equally, if not more important question:
The answers helped inform our thinking.
1. UPDATE FOR RELEVANCE
Sometimes, the clearest feedback comes in just a few words. When asked what additional resources or support would be helpful, one respondent simply wrote: "Update for relevance."
More culturally responsive examples and materials
More inclusive scenarios
Additional practice opportunities
Tips for making content more engaging
Updated statistics and explanations
Opportunities for refresher training
More implementation and facilitation support
Partners also emphasized the importance of helping content connect with the communities and students they serve. One respondent specifically shared a desire for culturally specific content that students could more easily identify with, while another called for scenarios that felt more inclusive and relatable.
We heard that representation and relevance matters. Students want to see themselves, their communities, and the realities they navigate reflected in prevention education. Only then can they begin to see themselves as bystanders, willing to do something.
This feedback helped reinforce an essential priority for Version 4: a stronger integration of identity, lived experience, safety, influence, context, and the factors that shape how people experience and respond to situations involving harm.
2. Prevention Doesn't HAPPEN IN A VACUUM
People make decisions based on their relationships,social positioning,sense of safety, the people around them, and the context of the situation.
Students may recognize that something feels concerning or inappropriate while still wondering:
Is there enough information for me to act?
Am I overreacting?
What can I realistically do?
Version 4 was designed with greater attention to not only these real-world questions, but the situations that students find themselves in.
Rather than assuming every participant will experience or approach a situation in the same way, Version 4 more intentionally recognizes that context matters, and that opportunities and barriers to action will look very different from person to person.
3. Implementation Needs to Be Practical
Campus prevention professionals are balancing a lot: Time. Staffing. Budgets. Competing priorities. Staff turnover. Student schedules.
License-holders identified that scheduling, time, funding, and travel are significant barriers that can affect participation in additional training opportunities. Some respondents also noted that virtual formats could improve accessibility and reduce costs, while others emphasized the value of in-person interaction and hands-on learning.
Campuses also need practical, ongoing support. The new curriculum is complemented by critical guidance surrounding facilitation and implementation of the newly integrated concepts, research, case studies, and scenarios. We know your teams need additional resources to help introduce, implement, and sustain the message at the heart of BITB V4: We can prevent sexual violence with institutional commitment and accountability, community responsibility to confronting harmful actions, policies, and structures, and individuals who are confident in their strengths.
Survey respondents wanted data and evaluation tools, culturally responsive materials, awareness campaign resources, interactive learning tools, trauma-informed resources, professional development opportunities, and practical resources for engaging institutional leadership.
That feedback has shaped our redesigning of Version 4 and the technical assistance we are bringing to the Bringing in the Bystander® community beyond the training.
4. PRACTICE!
We also heard a desire for continued opportunities to build confidence and strengthen facilitation.
Partners asked for more practice exercises, implementation tips, refresher sessions, and ways to learn from other peers and colleagues doing this work across regions.
One respondent captured it simply:
Another asked for insight into challenges and successes trainers are experiencing in the field.
This feedback reinforced the importance of creating learning experiences where participants can do more than simply receive information. It’s not only students who need to build self efficacy (Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215), one’s confidence and belief in their own capacity to perform an action. It’s campus prevention professionals too.
We know that’s what campus professionals need as well - to feel capable, confident, and empowered to keep training and spreading this essential information, to knowledge share, and to learn from the successes and challenges that other campuses are navigating.
Just like the students you train, you want to practice and build your self-efficacy.
This evidence-based research tenet, at the heart of all behavior change programs, continues to inform how we think about both facilitation, implementation, and technical support for our license partners.
We are still Listening
The development of Version 4 was informed by more than one survey.
Over the years, we have gathered feedback through:
We also examined recent research, emerging trends, long-standing patterns, and themes across disciplines related to bystander decision-making, social dynamics and social positioning, individual and collective experiences with violence, the evolution of relationships and connectedness, community, and the evolving climate within which young people are making significant choices surrounding the values that anchor their behavior.
We will keep building on the strong foundation of Bringing in the Bystander® while renewing our commitment to constant evolution. That’s what our young people need from us.
This Is What Evolution Looks Like
Version 4 is not about changing something for the sake of “something different.”.
It’s because we want different outcomes; better ones. Ones that serve and support our young people.
Version 4 builds on the trusted foundation that has supported campuses for more than two decades while evolving to better reflect:
The current ways students are interacting with each other
Who students are, what they carry, and where they come from
Scenarios that reflect the spaces, places, and realities of how young people move through the world with each other The role social context, power, and safety play in decision-making
The uncertainty they may experience before deciding whether and how to act
The importance of practical, accessible, authentic opportunities for prosocial bystander intervention
While Version 4 represents a significant evolution of Bringing in the Bystander®, its foundation remains the same:
We are incredibly grateful to every student, facilitator, campus partner, trainer, and prevention professional who helped shape this next chapter.
The next generation of Bringing in the Bystander® is here.
And together, we can continue building communities where more people recognize their ability, and responsibility, to safely step in when it matters.