Bully - The Movie
 

Bumping :)

My 10 year old was bullied in school a couple years back. I didn't realize how long it had been going on. It was never physical, but the scars are still deep. My daughter is finally back on track this year but still has issues with self esteem. It's a very real issue that hits home with me.

I went to see Bully by myself Friday night. I knew I'd be crying so I wanted to see it alone. The last two nights since seeing it I have had nightmares about being bullied. Most of us have either been bullied or been close with someone who has been bullied. The film is very powerful and moving. I was out very young and had the same thing happen to me in junior high as the lesbian in the movie did in high school, where she goes to sit down and everyone moves away from her. Devastating and all too common.

Bumping for change

Excellent to hear this!!! I know this has been a struggle for the filmmakers and there was some doubt that the PG13 rating would happen due to the number of F bombs dropped.

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Bully opens around the country on Friday, May 13th :) I'll be heading over to Seattle this weekend to see it.

i can't wait to see it! i only heard about it recently because a friend was mentioning that they excluded the fact that tyler long was on the autism spectrum from the movie. i thought that was interesting but other than that i haven't heard much about the film, so i just went to look at the website :) now i'm very excited to see it.

i was bullied in school and i'm working on a project for youth who are queer and/or disabled who are responding to bullying and other forms of violence. one of the attitudes i've run up against a lot is that bullying is just "kids being kids" and that stopping it isn't important, we just need to teach kids to deal with it and get over it. i find that really troubling - that there is this belief that physical and emotional violence is okay or, like, a rite of passage.

I find this extremely troubling too. As the spectrum of diversity becomes more visible (physically, mentally, socioeconomically challenged kids, gay youth, ethnic youth) in our communities and schools more attention needs to be paid to kids and their peer groups. Parents need to be aware of "indicators" of bullying. This is hard to accomplish when a community of adults is fearful of their own reputations should they take a stand against bullying. Taking a stand means that human beings, gay, straight, rich, poor, minorities, physically challenged or mentally challenged have a right to be treated with respect. That's a big leap for many, especially when it comes to gay and ethnic youth.

I was bullied in school for two reasons; socioeconomic class (I was middle class amongst the wealthy) and because I was gay (I looked like a tomboy).

Come back and post your thoughts after you have seen the movie. I'm incredibly excited and hope to actually see the original R rated version one of these days.

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OPENING NIGHT AROUND THE COUNTRY!!!

:)

I so want to see this.

There is one place in Sacramento airing this movie...I think I will take myself to see it.

Bullying of any sort is just plain unacceptable

Excellent!! Come back and let me know what you thought. I'm going tonight. It's showing in several theaters in Seattle.

Cheers,

Scoobs

Im going to go to the matinee showing I will let you all know.

im a little dissapointed that not more have shown for the matinee however I'll get a good seat and not be overwhelmed by a shit ton of people the movie is starting in 45 mins. I will post my thoughts n feelings after. I know what it's like to be bullied.

I do not want to spoil anything for those that have yet to see this so I will share only what I felt and then join conversations as more people see this film.

in less than five minutes tears were streaming down my cheeks no movie or documentary has ever done that

I was put through every emotion possible as someone who has been bullied and as a parent

sadness / anger / frustrations

and finally at the end a way to help.

please please see this movie and help end bullying.

Anxiously Awaiting
 

to hear your thoughts on this Scuba. Did you see it last night as you intended to?

Wow, so much to say so little space!! The best documentary I've ever seen. It completely moved me. Completely...

Without give it all away, let me just say this...I hope some people lose their jobs over this movie. As I mentioned before, it's the adults who need the help. I was mortified with Alex's father and was happy to see his mother come around at the end. She gets "it" now.

This is a must see for everyone, kids, teenagers, parents, school administrators...everyone.

I cried, I laughed and I learned...

me too..it really is a must see. The impact it had on me alone...kid you not i was cussing out loud at a certain administrator...

I have been promoting this on my facebook as well, i think far too many do not actually want to see bullying for what it is and the damage it can cause.

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Anyone else see the movie and have comments?

I read that the assistant principle has apologized...for what it's worth.

apologized????? she actually got to keep her job????????

this pisses me off that she kept her job

when my eldest was in second grade, i got home from errands late and i checked the answering machine and there were 3 girls that I recognized the voices of and could name threatening to do vile things to my daughters body...the things they said NO second grader should ever know about it was sickening and frightening to think my daughter would have to return to that in the fall...

So i took the tape down to the school and forced the prinicipal to listen to the threats of rape

She said...ah kids will be kids....I lost my cookies on that

I said you have 1 choice only here and that is to remove these 3 girls from the school or I will call the news media, the police, the superintendent as well as the state superintendent and you my dear will LOSE YOUR job for not protecting a student. This is your only choice, I expect a letter in the mail showing that these students have been permanently expelled from your school.

I received the letter 3 days later..

I would have come unwound on the AP, she would not have remembered her education when i was done with her.

oh god this shit bugs me...

sorry for the rant...however that momma was just trying to protect her son the best she knew...it pisses me off the way she was treated..

The only thing my daughter was ever aware of was that 3 of her so called "friends" moved to a different school, my daughter was unaware of the threats she was only in the second grade. If she were aware of any threats directly stated to her she never came to me about them.

What i heard was on my answering machine and i always listened to my messages via my handset, her dad heard them as well and i think he went in the bathroom and puked, thus i knew it was up to me to handle.

Because of the severity of the threats and the actual "knowledge" these 3 girls had of things in the sexual nature it would have been a nightmare for the "parents" had the principal not followed through with my request, i have no doubt cps would have gotten involved too, I just wanted these "girls" far the hell away from my kid...Now mind you it was my understanding all the parents were brought in and listened to the vile things their kids had threatened to do if they got their kids help i'm not aware of it.

I'm glad did what you did Laney, I firmly believe that its our jobs as parents to protect our young and ensure that the schools do the same. I also firmly believe that its our jobs as parents to teach our children to be kind to others.

ps. i have often been referred to as a Momma Bear...have no doubts lol

Right??????

Laney, Gea you two are great!! I agree that the school has an obligation to protect children but the overall responsibility is on the parents or guardians. Some parents, just refuse to take and active role in their child's upbringing. My most favorite line in any movie ever was from "Parenthood". When Keanu Reeves says to the mom "You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.
".

What's even more disturbing is when these parents defend their child's behavior. Often it's a "my child would never do anything like that" kind of comment. And how would they know anyway? Half the time they have NO idea what their kid is doing, where they are and who they are hanging out with. I've seen this happen up close and personal. It's both sad and infuriating.

I so agree 100% about the parents being active in the lives of their children from birth forward it is up to the parents to be responsible it is also up to us to take it up with the schools when necessary, ultimately it is up to the parents it starts at home. It starts from before birth.

Now for the heartbreaking part, there are so many kids that will not tell their parents when something is amiss at school and they try and handle it on their own or fear ridicule in the home thus difficult communications, i feel for both the parents and the children in these circumstances.

All parent / child relationships vary from one to the next. I hope that parents of middle and high school kids take them to see this film.

PS-Anyone can be a sperm or an egg donor, its takes a special person to be a "parent"

Bully-The Movie
 

I will be going to see it Sunday Also on April 26 a movie called Gender Bender will be playing in Seattle hope to see some of you there (lol)

Sharing a link
 

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/04/e...bullying-bill/

Education Secretary Arne Duncan ducked a question Friday on whether the Obama administration was prepared to endorse LGBT anti-bullying legislation as the White House prepared for a screening of the movie “Bully” in the afternoon.

Under questioning from the Washington Blade during a White House news conference, Duncan declined to say whether the administration was ready to endorse the Student Non-Discrimination, or SNDA, but touted the administration’s work on the issue and called for solidarity in confronting student harassment.

Arne Duncan

“We have to continue to do everything we can to make sure that there is zero tolerance for this,” Duncan said. “I met with one of the young women in the movie this morning with her father. It was very personal for me and for the president because we all have children going to school now.”

Duncan said an “unprecedented level” of work has taken place under the Obama administration on bullying, citing the first-ever White House summit against bullying in March 2011 and what he said was the passage of state anti-bullying laws throughout the country.

“I’ll tell you, some of my toughest meetings have been with parents who have lost their children or committed suicide due to the impact,” Duncan said. “So, we all have to continue to work together.”

Pressed to clarify on whether the Obama administration was prepared to endorse legislation, Duncan didn’t answer and took a question from another reporter.

SNDA would prohibit and harassment in public elementary and secondary schools based on a student’s actual or perceived LGBT status. No federal law explicitly prohibits harassment against LGBT students in school.

Duncan ducks the question on SNDA as the White House was set to host a screening of “Bully,” a 2011 documentary about school bullying that follows the lives of five students who were bullied on a daily basis.

The screening takes place on the “National Day of Silence” on which students take a day-long vow of silence representative of the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters.

LGBT advocates have been pressing Obama to endorse SNDA for some time. In a letter dated March 7, a group of 70 organizations — including the Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network — to place the full support of his administration behind the bill.

Administration officials, such as Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, have previously said the administration supports “the goals” of SNDA, but have stopped short of endorsing the bill.

I ,for one, have been disappointed time after time by the current administration refusal to a take a stance on issues that affect the gay community!

Bullying although yes affects the lgbt community it also affects those that are not lgbt, i did however find that article interesting.

Excellent!! Thanks for the post!! Good news for sure :)

I encouraged my friend to take her son to see this movie because her son is a great kid he is 13 and he gets picked on at school I told her how very moving this film is and that i think it would be good for her and her son to see it.

I'm going to find out today if she took him and what she thought about it.

This movie is finally coming to the little theater near my apartment. I will be going to see it, for sure! :)

Finally saw Bully today. Glad I went and equally glad the message is becoming louder and more insistent. I was teary-eyed through the entire movie. The Assistant Principal who talked down and showed the pictures of her new grandchild to the hurting parents? She was an idiot. And now everyone knows! ;) It disturbed me that the only non-white child who was bullied that they featured was also in prison/psychiatric care. I am curious how and why they chose to feature each of the students they did. By and far the biggest take-away I got was that adults don't have the tools, education, care, or concern needed to help make this bullying epidemic go away.

Just as an addendum: As a kid, I got my fair share of verbal teasing and harassment on the buses because I went to an alternative elementary school program that happened to share space with the district's special education programs. I took three different school buses each day both ways, but thankfully lived in a neighborhood with some kids who were in the same program. We sort of banded together when the other kids would start in on us. My older brother was also in the same program and did get physically attacked sometimes by other boys at the bus stop. I am appalled that bus drivers aren't able to do anything to stop physical harassment on their buses. Mine would have pulled over and not moved until the bus was quiet and behaving properly. (Just like the mom says in the movie!) Also, bullying isn't just a problem in the U.S. I think it's pretty bad in the U.K., too. The first night I set foot in Scotland, I witnessed a large pack of children chasing after one boy who was about the same age. They knocked him down right in front of me and beat him up using their fists, feet, and belts. I was told by the responding police officer that bullying like that was very common.

:hangloose:

will it ever stop? I would get a lawyer and sue
 

Sharing a Link
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/05/s...g-gay-student/

HANOVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Jared Swank had a great time at his senior prom last weekend, but the happiness turned into disgust when a teacher he trusted showed a video of him dancing with his transgender date to students in her classroom on Monday.

Swank, an 18-year-old senior at Hanover Area High School, has been openly gay since the eighth grade, and he has suffered bullying and ridicule from both teachers and students at Hanover Area the entire time he has attended the school, he said.

Jared Swank. (Times Leader photo by Clark Van Orden.)

“I was very, very hurt,” said Swank. “I was upset by the fact that she was showing other students, because most of them are males and straight people don’t like to hear about gay people, so they’ll sit there and make fun of them,” he said.

He said the teacher should “absolutely not” have shown the video in class.

“She told me that she wanted to show her daughter, not the entire school,” Swank said in an interview at the NEPA Rainbow Alliance offices in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday afternoon.

And Swank said it’s not the first time he has been bullied at the school.

“I’ve been made fun of by teachers who have said things. It’s just an ongoing thing and I’d like to see other students not have to go through this. One of my friends got expelled not long ago for (his reaction to) being called gay. It’s just ridiculous that everybody has to go through this,” Swank said.

His mother, Dawn Mendygral, said that in one instance, a district employee asked Swank “if he had any rainbows in his backpack.” A rainbow is a symbol of the gay community.

In another episode, Swank was wearing pink eye shadow and his teacher went to the next classroom and invited students over “to show the students that he had pink eye.” In a third, a teacher threw a notebook at him to draw his attention and the wire cut her son’s finger.

She said football players pelted her son with lollypops at a parade, students threw stones at him in gym class and roughed him up a bit in the halls. She reported each incident and was told they would be addressed, but she was never told how.

Mendygral, 41, of Hanover Township, said that in the latest incident, the teacher asked Swank and his prom date, 16-year-old Selena Leyc, who attends Lake-Lehman School District, if she could take a short video of them dancing, using her iPhone, to show her daughter.

Schools, like corporations understand only one way to change---by being sued. Sadly, school districts cannot afford it and it only adds a unneccesary burden to them. That said, sue them. Call the school district office every day until you get an answer to what the action is they will be taking against bullying, call the press, sandwich board yourself with your message and stand outside the school--whatever draws attention to your being ignored when you are trying to stop bullying of your child OR any child.

Rope--