Bully

Take your kids to see this movie.  Then encourage others to see it. Everyone has seen bullying at some point in their lives.  I was bullied through out elementary and middle school.  What really shocks me about this movie, is how the schools don't have a plan for bullying.

It's not like this is something new.  Bullying has been around since probably the beginning of the human race.  So why is there not a global way to teach children not to bully or how to put a stop to it when it does happen?  As a student or parent it is assumed that schools have a plan when bullying arises; how to recognize it, deal with it and put an end to it.  The most surprising moment in this movie is when you realize they don't. 

This movie follows the lives of children and their families who are dealing with bullying.  Some are in hopeless situations where the school is failing them and their parents don't know what to do, some are the parents of children who have taken their own life because of bullying.  One brave teen came out, something that's hard enough to do with out the entire town turning on her.  This brave child takes a stand to be who she is.  I wanted to tell her that not all places are this way.  She could move to a larger city where they are more open minded, where she could have a chance to be happy about who she is. Bullying is emotional abuse and it is painful to watch its effect on each child and how the system just fails them. 

I remember my brother getting in trouble in middle school.  He snapped and pushed a kid down the hill.  At the time my brother was a 6'2" 8th grader.  Of course he was punished, he was the bigger kid.  You probably think by reading this that he is the bully, the huge kid who picks on others.  In reality he was the victim of being picked on and being made fun of every day.  As Anne mentioned its usually the bully that gets punished. Unfortunately for the children in this movie and thousands of other children, the real issues are not being dealt with.  They are instead alone and suffering without knowing what to do.

It's sad that it takes something like a movie to spark interest in something we all know is an on going problem.  This movie inspires you to want to help.  My inspiration is to get as many people as possible to see this movie and encourage others to do the same.  We need to develop a national plan for bullying in the schools.  Watch this movie.  If you have children tell your schools that their staff needs to watch this movie and ask what their plan of action is.  Then as a parent ask yourself what your plan is.