A star of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why star has candidly admitted to being a bully, before adding that most people are guilty of it as well.
In a video for ATTN, Brandon Flynn, 24, makes the surprising admission and charges that most people are guilty of bullying ‘because we’ve all done nothing when we see people we know get mistreated.’
Admitting that he doesn’t always do the right thing in certain situations, he adds: ‘In reality, only eight per cent of the population are actual bullies while 80 per cent of us are bystanders.’
Speaking out: 13 Reasons Why star Brandon Flynn appears in a new PSA in which he speaks out about bullying – and the fact that so many people stand by and do nothing about it
Life imitating art: The actor plays a bully in the hit Netflix series, sharing in his new video that his character, Justin, does not help when someone close to him is picked on and tormented
Schoolyard bullies: A still from the video, released by ATTN, shows bullies at work
Hoop dreams: In 13 Reasons Why the central character, Hannah, commits suicide, having been picked on by a number of her classmates while others, including Justin, did nothing
Picture perfect: The 24-year-old pointed out that there is a 57 per cent chance bullying will stop within 10 seconds if someone intervenes
Quoting a statistic from StopBullying.gov, the actor explains that if someone intervenes to stop a bully in his or her tracks, there is a 57 per cent chance the bullying will stop within 10 seconds.
‘Just because you’re not the one getting bullied, it doesn’t mean it’s not your problem, too,’ he says.
This is a bit of wisdom his own character from 13 Reasons Why, Justin, may have benefited from.
Based on the 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, the show revolves around Hannah Baker, a girl who commits suicide after a series of incidents at school that see her being tormented and picked on by her fellow peers, while others stand by and do nothing to help her.
Brandon’s character Justin is one of several who fail to step in to prevent Hannah from being bullied, despite being aware of what is happening.
Ripple effect: Brandon advised that you can usually stop bullies if you stand up to them
Tragic: 13 Reasons Why’s central character Hannah (pictured with Clay Jensen, played by Dylan Minnette) killed herself after she was subjected to bullying in school
‘Bullies should feel embarrassed about what they’re doing,’ Brandon points out in the video.
Stepping in and telling a bully to stop can make a big difference, he points out.
‘You might have saved that person’s life. Plus, you created a ripple effect. The other bystanders… they saw you do something. And the next time, they’ll be more likely to do something, too,’ he says.
And while Justin stops a basketball game to bring attention to bullying in the show, Brandon says people don’t have to go to such extreme lengths in real life.
‘You can just say “stop” or “don’t talk to people like that”,’ he adds.