Friday, February 15, 2013

Bully (2011)

As someone hoping to work in education, this film is chilling. I was homeschooled and so I seldom ran into this kind of treatment when I was in school. I find myself thinking of kids I worked with in the schools I briefly taught classes in and wondering how many of the more awkward or secluded ones went through this kind of treatment. It's a difficult situation because although I am optimistic enough to believe there are answers to the problem, I also believe that bullies will be bullies wherever you go and will find some way to exert their authority and power, and it's difficult to curb that because teachers *can't* be everywhere and see everything. What we can do is try to motivate other children and teenagers to do the right thing, to view bullying as absolutely unacceptable, and to be willing to stand up with someone who is being bullied and fight on their side. It can be a terrifying thing to do, but movies like this film are helpful in showing just how vital it is. I can only hope that films like this and projects like the ones they discussed *are* making students everywhere realize that they can do something to help fight this.

The documentary did exactly what it was supposed to do - make me passionate about and interested in efforts to stop bullying. Well done. Hopefully it will strike that same chord in others as well. 4 stars.

Flickchart: #671 out of 1855, below All That Jazz and above The Magnificent Ambersons.

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