bully – the movie

Have you heard about a new movie, “BULLY”?

It’s a documentary film about bullying in schools

Regular readers here would know that I have an opinion on most things as most bucket mouthed moles do

But there’s few things that set me off and get me all rant-y, like bullying does (read hereherehere, & here)

I guess all of us have ‘something’ that gets us going. Politics, the environment, animal cruelty, the cast of Dancing With The Stars

Bullying is one thing that can make both my tears flow and my blood boil at the same time

And I understand that ‘kids will be kids’ and there’s a certain amount of teasing and messing around that will always happen in the school yard. But when a kid is relentlessly taunted and abused, to the point that he takes his own life life, well that’s just plain fucking wrong. So very, very wrong.

BULLY, the movie, is released this year.

The movie has one major problem. It’s been rated R – which means that the very people that SHOULD be watching this, KIDS – can’t legally watch it

I’m not sure if it’s going to be realized in Australia, UK or anywhere else around the world. I hope it is. (for now it’s just the U.S)

But just in case, it would be beyond awesome, if you guys could add your name to the petition to get the rating of the movie changed, so that kids can watch it.

If kids can see the harm and devastation that bullying can cause, and decide not to do it to another kid – even if it’s just a few kids – that’s got to be a good thing, yeah?

I’m a Mum. I have nieces and nephews, Godchildren. Bullying is everywhere. It’s rampant. It’s wrong.

I generally don’t sign petitions. I don’t forward emails. I delete so much ‘please pass this on’ stuff that lands in my inbox. So I understand if you don’t do this.

But if you do, thank you.

How cool would it be if all of us, added together, can make one kid not bully another kid? Or one kid step in to stop a kid being bullied? Or one kid make friends with a kid who needs a friend?

[YOUTUBE]ZYFWUKWl8S0[/YOUTUBE] 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

(if you want to forward this to your mates, then I don’t know why people call you a shithead….you’re obviously awesome! – copy this link http://www.jennytalia.com/2012/03/20/bully-the-movie/ and pass it on)

20 comments

  1. i suffered at the hands of bullies and my two x partners bullied me not physically but mentally im still scared with it now it has to stop!

  2. Ya gotta love this. The United States Government protecting the kids from a movie made for them. Stop bullying, but for God’s sake don’t see the movie.

  3. Sadly I think that the kids who would need to see this film, are the kids that wont, even if the rating is changed. Mainly because they do not see what they do as bullying. My eldest son was bullied throughout his final year of middle school because he has Crohn’s Disease. This ended with the bully trying to stab my son in his neck. He did draw blood but luckily my son wasn’t badly injured. I spoke to the head master at the school and he assured me that the bully would be dealt with. However, as there was a football match that afternoon and the bully was on the team, his dealing with it involved a talking to and that is it. This was a child of 11 years old. After that my son changed schools and is a very happy and settled 15 yr old.
    The problem I have is while bullying is a huge problem, and it is heartbreaking, you have the do-gooders that say that the kids only bully because they are bullied themselves, or abused, or because both parents work, or don’t have money, or my personal favourite, they are bored, there is nothing for teens to do. Do you know what, I don’t give a stuff about the kids that choose to behave like this, I care about my kids and the others that go to school to learn. Every child should feel safe in school and if there is a “damaged” child that is making that impossible then that child should be removed from school until their “issues” are dealt with. Rant over!

    1. Lisa, I agree. For the most part, I don’t give a shit WHY kids bully. It just needs to be dealt with seriously enough, so that no matter how ‘hard your upbringing is’ or ‘if both parents work’ or ‘you’re bored’ (like you said) – the punishment or consequences are such, that it’s not worth it. Expulsion, fines, whatever. Make it enough so that bullies deem ‘bullying’ not worth the shit it’s going to get them in.
      In saying that though – I do believe that there are some kids that are bullies by ‘default’. They watch it, they laugh at their mates doing it, they encourage it. I think some of those kids could be changed if they saw the damage it does. Not all. A real bully probably wouldn’t – that’s where consequences might by the solution. I do know, that the more it’s ‘out there’ and becomes unacceptable, things WILL change.

  4. Hey Jen, I agree with what your saying in this blog, as someone who has a mild learning disablity i do know how it feels to be bullied. Going through primary school was the hardest only because when I tried to be friendly to the other kids they just basically told me to get lost, which ended up me having to play with kids that were in grade 1-2 instead of the grade i was in which was 3-4. Then going though High school, I had teachers who gave me a hard time and the other kids also, they realised that I was different only because I had to have a teacher’s aid come into the classroom to help me with my schoolwork. On many occasions going though grade 11-12, my hospitality teacher gave me shit,she must not of liked me from the word go but on this one day that i remember very well, I was sitting in class and had the need to go to the bathroom and before you can leave the classroom you had to ask the teacher’s permission, well i raised my hand and all she did was look the other way, i sat there and nearly pissed myself, my hand was raised for nearly 30 mins. When the bell rang i just got up and ran! But still, can’t believe a teacher of all things would do that to a student! Many people say to me “why didn’t you just get up and go”, I said ” well i would have but she probably would have given me detention or something knowing her” . And plus the other kids called me a retard! Which i know i’m not, but still it’s not very nice! Well that’s my rant over! x

    1. Thanks for sharing Simone. One of the biggest problems with bullying is that is can harm a kid permanently. It’s something they carry with them for the rest of their lives. And yes, teachers can be part of the problem sometimes. x

  5. Signed and shared. Glad you have brought this up,going through it with my son at the moment,and the school are being helpfull but because the child doing it is a girl they dont seem to help as much as if it was the other way around. The reason he is bullied…get this…is because he is quiet (only in school,talks 10 to the dozen at home!) and because he is clever! That is what makes me so angry,that he is bullied because he wants to learn…Hello..thats what school is for!
    Rant over.

    BTW Lisa…its so nice to read that your child is now happier. xxx

    1. Yeah, Leanne – kids always find ‘something’ to pick on with other kids. Too smart, too shy etc. And girls? Sometimes I think they’re the worst – and they start younger and younger. I hope your son gets through it OK. x

      1. LOL,its Leanne not Lisa! 🙂

        He isnt too bad at the moment,’Little B’ goes and sort’s them out (“dont start on my brother” etc) but he wont stand up for himself & is worried if he does then it will be HIM that gets told off! Lets hope the others grow up soon and leave him alone! xx

  6. Signed the petition as I’m sitting here in tears. My little brother and I used to have to travel 1.5hr each way on the school bus when I was 12 and he was 9, and we both used to get bullied by the kids on there. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because we were brought up to be nice and have manners and we tried to make friends with them, therefore making us easy targets to kids who didn’t want to be nice. Maybe it’s because we were the new kids on the bus in what was an already established and non-welcoming group of the exclusive “bus travelers from far away”. Either way, it was inexcusable and uncalled for, but at the time.. when you’re traveling to a new area and the only person you know is your little brother who is just as scared as you, you don’t know what else to do besides cop the name calling, hair pulling, bag throwing, pushing down stairs, kicking, hitting, being made to sit down the front of the bus because “only the people we like can sit up here with us”. One girl my age tried to sit with me and make friends with me, but then she herself copped grief for that and she retreated. She didn’t bully me, but she still sat with the bullies. I didn’t really realise how inexcusable this all was until I was 17 and finally felt able to stand up to the main ringleader (with the support of my wonderful friends), who was a girl my age. She laughed it off. That’s what hurt the most. That she wouldn’t acknowledge the harm she had done, words that have stuck with me even now at age almost 24. My brother can’t even talk about those days of catching the bus, he’s now nearly 21. It’s not even the physical harm that hurt the most, it’s the words they would say to us when we were just two normal Aussie kids catching the bus to school, with no idea what we had done wrong to deserve this. I would even make sure I went to school when I was really sick, just so my little brother wouldn’t have to travel on that bus by himself, because I was terrified what they would do to him if I wasn’t there to protect him. Bullying makes me feel so ill and upset and I know that it is never going to be completely gone, but if this movie makes even a few bullies stop and change their ways, then it will have been a success.

    1. Oh Lovey…you and your brother are exactly why kids need to see this. If just one person befriended you….then another – the bullies would probably left you alone. Rest assured that wherever these bullies are now – there’s no way they turned out as awesome as you! What doesn’t kill you…and all that crap x

      1. Thankfully, it stopped each day as soon as we got off the bus, and at school we both always had good groups of friends and were left alone by the bullies (some of whom were unbelievably considered “good kids” by teachers), but looking back now, I just can’t believe kids are so bloody awful to each other. It’s so frightening to think that with each passing year, it’s like kids get worse and more horrible to each other.

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