Why you should see the documentary film "Bully"

We recently saw the documentary "Bully" with our 13- and 15-year-old kids. We urge everyone to try and see this film in the next couple of weeks while it is showing in theaters. Take your middle & high school kids, or your nephews and nieces or grandkids. The message of 'it only takes one to make a difference' is so powerful. Stopping bullying starts with each of us and how we respond when we see it occurring. It is a Great film. And it should be an Oscar contender!!
Why you should see the documentary "Bully".

• The problems of today's youth are different then the parents. It will give you insight of this different envorinment.
• The movie goes beyond homophobic, antigay bulling. The most compelling story is of a straight kid named Alex.
• The stories are more than just the abuse heaped on the tormented kids. It is also about the adults that can help but ignore or dismiss them.
• Despite the depressing sounding premies of the movie "Bully," it is also a movie of abiding hope.  It shows that adults and students can do something about bullying. 
• The documentary is not out to trash public education and public school employees. Instead it shares the good and the bad of trying to eliminate bullying from our schools. 
• The impact of unchecked bullying carries over beyond the school years and affects the behavior of adults and society as a whole. The lesson is that it will take the whole community to end it.
• The film also highlights the role of bystanders. These are students (and sometimes adults) who probably would not engage in bullying themselves, but who either do not have the courage to stand up to the bullies or may even feel protected by the fact that they are not the targets of the bullying.
• "Bully" will make average kids want to be "upstanders" or someone who takes action on behalf of others. 
• Despite 48 states having passed bullying prevention laws, despite a mountain of research documenting the negative impact of bullying on students' health and education, and despite intensive media coverage of bullied students' suicides, the myth that bullying is a harmless rite of passage still persists. 
• Human connection is the key to bullying prevention. 

Check out the Facing History and Ourselves' "A Guide to the Film Bully."

 

Link: http://youtu.be/rjjeHeAzZZM