Using a personal anecdotal style, this paper describes ethical conflicts that occurred during a study conducted in a kindergarten classroom in which the researcher was a passive observer. The paper is framed around an incident observed by the researcher in which a kindergarten student was stigmatized as an outsider and mistreated by his peer group. The discussion of the researcher's role as a passive observer in a classroom stresses the need to capture the natural social setting of the classroom. The paper explores the ethical paradox of passive observation research. By avoiding intervention on behalf of a victim, a researcher can maintain objectivity and provide descriptions and analyses that have the potential to ultimately help victims; or a researcher can assist a victim in a sample of subjects being studied, but will thereby alter descriptions and analyses. (MM)