A Look at Bullying

Film documents teen bullying

Sadly, some students are so traumatized by being bullied that they become very depressed. Miserable and unable to communicate their dilemma to anyone, they feel their situation is hopeless and sometimes commit suicide.

The film "Rats & Bulliestells the story of Dawn-Marie, a 14-year old girl who took her own life after being relentlessly bullied by three teenage girls who were her classmates. View a trailer of the movie.

Dawn-Marie left a suicide note in which she named the three girls. Later, they were held accountable for the bullying. Read a teenager's review of the movie at TeensPoint.org.

Girls can sometimes be mean (presented by the Montefiore Medical Center in Association with WNET). Girls talk about being bullied by other girls, sometimes their friends.

Send your thoughts.
Do you think it is a good idea to document a real-life bullying tragedy in a movie? Why or why not?

TV host wants to end bullying

       
                                                                       Drawing by In Ji Seo

A well-known TV personality, Dr. Phil, hosts a TV program where he offers advice to people for solving problems in their daily lives. On his program, he talked about what motivates children to bully, how victims of bullying can fight back, and what students, parents, and teachers can do to stop bullying in their schools. He gave advice to a young girl Katie, who doesn't understand why she is being bullied in her school. On his online site, What can I do about school bullies?, he responds to a concerned mother who asks how to stop bullying in her daughter's school.

Send your thoughts.
What do you think of Dr. Phil's suggestions? What message would you send to the young girl Katie or the concerned mother? What ideas do you have for preventing bullying in schools?

Teens meet to tackle bullying

In class and online, we read a Lansing State Journal article, Teens Tackle Bullying at Diversity Conference. The article reports on a school anti-bullying conference held on March 21 in Lansing, Michigan.

The conference aimed to help middle and high school students facing hurtful bullying situations. We learned that about 12,000 students from 37 schools in mid-Michigan attended workshops such as "Bullying hurts all of us."

Last year in East Sussex, England, a whole community took steps to stop bullying. More than 100 community members—young people, teachers, education professionals, police, and health professionals—attended a conference to plan strategies for stamping out bullying in their community: County-wide bid to tackle bullying.

Send your thoughts.
Do you think this kind of conference can be successful? How can it help students who are picked on because of their race, a disability, or other difference? What do you think is the most effective way to stop bullying?

Putting yourself in others' shoes

Check out an online activity about bullying from Family Service Canada to get a feel for what it is like to be a bully, a victim, an intervener, or a bystander.

In this activity, you are on a simulated playground where there are different types of students, each of whom has a story to tell and is affected differently by bullying situations. By clicking on the faces of the different characters you can follow them through different scenes.

Send your comments.
Imagine you are one of the characters on this Website--bully, victim, intervener, or bystander. How did you feel about bullying from that character's point of view?