Stoplight Status (Identifying Boundary Levels)
If a boundary crossing is an absolute Red Light, what do we call it?
A Total Violation
Fill in the blank: Dignity is a person's basic right to feel safe, valued, and respected in their own ________.
Answer: Skin, clothes, or identity
What is the definition of a Bystander?
Someone who sees or hears harm happening but chooses to stay silent, stay out of it, or walk away
What object is often used as a metaphor to show that people have layers you can't see from the outside? (Hint: Not an Onion)
An Iceberg
The Scenario: A famous singer writes a private, angry vent track about their friend group and saves it in their voice memos. A hacker leaks it, and it goes viral on TikTok with millions of views. The singer says, "It was just a private vent, it shouldn’t count!"
Why does the leaked video still count as a major boundary crossing?
Because Intent does not equal Impact. Once it hits an audience, the private trust is broken and the damage is done
This is the color of the light when a situation is an accident or an "In-Between Area" where you need to pause, check-in, and adjust
Yellow Light / Grey Area
What do we call the phenomenon where adding an audience (like a crowded cafeteria or a group chat) multiplies the harm of a joke?
The Amplification Effect
To a prankster or a bully, what does a bystander's silence look like?
Approval or permission to keep going
What is a social "Echo Chamber"
Surrounding yourself only with people who look, think, and act exactly like you, causing you to treat differences as "weird" or "wrong"
The Scenario: A famous YouTuber pulls a prank where they run up and pull a beanie off a stranger's head in public to see their reaction, while their cameraman records it for clout. The victim looks terrified and walks away.
What type of laughter is the YouTuber looking for from their fans, and what did they violate?
They are looking for Humiliation Humor / Clout, and they completely violated the stranger's Dignity and Physical Boundaries
True or False: If a physical prank like pulling someone's hood down happens between two best friends who think it's funny, it is considered a Green Light.
False. (Physical boundary crossings that expose or blind someone are always a Red Light/Total Violation due to safety and dignity)
What are the two types of laughs heard in middle school, and which one is a sign of a boundary violation?
Genuine Laughter (everyone is in on it) and Stress Laughter (fake laughing to look tough/survive embarrassment). Stress laughter is the sign of a violation
If you use the Upstander strategy of "Distract," what are you trying to do to the situation?
Interrupt the tension by changing the subject or creating a diversion to give the victim an exit
Name two things that sit "Above the Water" on a person’s Identity Iceberg (things you can instantly see)
(Any two) Clothing style, race, gender, height, physical appearance
The Scenario: A famous streamer gets caught using a racial slur in a private Discord group chat. They release an apology video saying, "Guys, it was a joke in a private chat with my boys, I would never say that in public!"
Why is this excuse a total violation failure?
Because identity-based slurs are never a joke, and a digital footprint means nothing online stays private
Standing so close to someone in the lunch line that your chest touches their backpack starts as a Yellow Light (Grey Area/In Between). What specific action turns it into a Red Light (Total Violation)?
Staying that close on purpose after noticing it or after they show they are uncomfortable
Finish this phrase: In our community, your Intent (what you meant to do) never matters more than the ________.
Impact (how it actually made the other person feel).
Name all "4 Ds" of being an Upstander
Direct, Distract, Delegate, and Delay
If a team of four identical gamers tries to design a brand-new fashion app for the whole school, why are they likely to fail?
Because they only know what gamers like, creating a huge blind spot for what everyone else wants
The Scenario: At an awards show, a comedian makes a loud joke mocking a celebrity's hair loss or clothing choice in front of millions of viewers. The celebrity forces a tight, fake smile while everyone else in the room roasts them
What specific middle school concept explains why the celebrity is smiling, and what effect turned the joke into an attack?
The celebrity is Stress Laughing to survive the moment, and the audience created The Amplification Effect (cranking the volume to a 10)
Why is reading a text notification that pops up on your friend's phone when they walk away considered a boundary crossing?
It violates an Emotional/Digital privacy boundary and breaks trust.
When someone uses identity-based roasts or "edgy humor" to gain social status at someone else's expense, what "currency" are they trying to buy?
Clout (or social standing)
Explain how you can still be an Upstander using the "Delay" strategy even if you completely froze up and were too scared to act in the moment
Checking in with the victim privately later to support them and validate that what happened was wrong
Explain how "Valuing Differences" actually makes your entire advisory class safer
It breaks down the pressure to conform, allowing everyone to bring their unique strengths, skills, and protections to the community
The Scenario: A movie studio hires 5 directors who all went to the same college, live in Hollywood, and love the exact same comic books to write a movie meant for audiences all over the world. The movie completely flops because it misses what normal people actually care about
What kind of team did the studio build, and what was their biggest weakness?
They built an Echo Chamber / Monotone Team, and they failed because they had massive Blind Spots for audiences different from them.