In my elective class, we are watching the film Bully. This movie is really sad and touching (and it's on Netflix if you are interesting in watching it). It brings up so many questions for me about human beings, human interactions and the human spirit, not to mention all of the questions about schools, adult responsibilities, teachers, and safe spaces.
The film begins with the story of a child who committed suicide because he was so tormented in middle and high school. I really wonder why those children are driven to be so cruel. It seems to me that they must be learning these behaviors somewhere. If these children's parents are abusive, the children learn that abuse equals power. They feel helpless in their own lives, so they try to find that feeling of power by abusing others. At least, that's what I've learned in psychology classes.
The thing I find even more difficult to understand is that there were about 45 kids on the bus. One kid was being attacked. About 4 kids attacked him. What happened to the other 40 kids on that bus? Why do they just ignore what they see and know to be wrong? It seems like there are probably some deeper issues going on. Group think maybe? They don't see anybody intervening (trying to help), so they don't intervene? I don't know, but watching this, I really wish one of the other kids would have tried to stop it.
Next, the schools: almost all of this abuse happened in schools or on the school bus. Don't schools have an obligation to protect students from physical and mental abuse. If a child is being abused in school, how is that child going to learn anything? No one can reach his or her learning potential when he or she is afraid. The administrators in the schools in the movie are not very good at dealing with these issues, but don't you think that teachers and administrators should be trained to deal with this? We can't let students become victims or abusers.
Finally, I have a respect rule in my classroom. I know some students feel like they are just playing when they tease each other or make fun of each other. As a teacher though, I don't know how the teased person really feels. I can't read that person's mind. They could be laughing along, but still feel hurt. That's why I don't think 'playing' is funny. That's why I go out of my way to stop it when I see it or hear it. Physical and mental abuse is not cool. It's not acceptable. It's not funny. It does not create a safe and respectful classroom. I will not be a party to abuse happening when I can try to stop it.
I like how you thoroughly talked about this movie. I feel that you made a correct relation to Psychology.You could have mentioned how bullying can be a defense mechanism for a child who doesn't have a source to get rid of the anger they have. I enjoyed your questions because they made me think more into your blog. I really believe the 40 other students didn't say anything out of fear of being tormented, ridiculed, and bullied. The students probably thought that this kid deserved it, and that everyone gets bullied in their lives. This post finally made me understand the underlying meaning to the respect rule in your class. Keep up the good writing and I hope everyone gets the same understanding and knowledge that I got out of this piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sucorah, I'm glad you appreciate the logic behind my rule after reading this. I agree with you. I hope all your classmates read this and at least try, even if they aren't 100% convinced, to understand where I am coming from.
DeleteIn life we encounter situations in which we can not control. Bullying is sometimes one of those situations. I believe that bullying is created through emotional distress meaning that the bully may be going through personal problems which he/she may not know how to handle. I do not agree with you about the parent situation 100%. To my knowledge a parent is someone who cherishes the child. If the father or/and mother is abusing the child mentally or physically this indicates to me that they are in fact, not a parent. A father and mother are just two individuals who gave birth to a child; therefore, this does not make them a parent at all until they begin to act in that definition of a parent. Sometimes the true victim in a bullying situation is the bully because he/she is the one who need the most help. This would help define the reason they are mentally or physically torturing another person. The act of bullying may just be that first cry for help and when its not heard it sometimes become their last cry for help.
ReplyDeleteI like all of the different ideas you raise here, but you don't actually demonstrate that you read what I wrote. It seems like you are responding to the title of my post, and not the content of my post.
DeleteThis a great and important writing on bulllying. I understand what you are saying to help stread the word. youth should have more writing like this to read so they can understand the importance of bullying.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you express why you feel the way you do towards bullies. I also agree that somebody should have stood up for that kid. But sometimes instead of wondering who is going to take foot forward, maybe it should be yourself. I also think that this is a great blog post to inform others on bullies and also to spread awareness around concerning bullies.
ReplyDeleteMs.Hegeman I like the way you talked about the movie alot. You went very into depth on what happen in the movie. Your blog made me want to go watch the movie and understand more where your coming from. kids bully because they have anger inside and they want to release and the only way they can release is on other people. They dont see the amount of harm their doing to the kid because they are other benefitting theirself and thinking I can feel better if someone else feels my pain.
ReplyDeleteSo i enjoyed reading your blog and compenhing what you were trying to express yourself.Keep writing and I hope everybody understands the information or knowlegde that you just addreess in your blog. Good Job.
I agree with you, bullying affects a lot of people in many different ways. Some students play around joking on others and the person being joked on may laugh but sometimes deep down they are actually feeling bad about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. Bullying is something not everyone takes seriously. It can lead to many other issues, such as suicide which has a high percentage rate as of today. People kill themselves because they are not able to defend themselves. I like the detailing in this post aswell.
ReplyDeleteI agree, A child should never have to go through a bullying experience. The movie made me think about how kids bully and sometimes don't face consequences. The movie was scary but It gave me a better understanding of how some people childhood is or was like. This is why I understand where your opinions and information came from.
ReplyDeletethis was really a nice blog, Enjoyed reading every bit of it.
ReplyDeletereally like this blog,kids can really learn about bullying and what it can lead to. i highy recommend this blog to others maybe even bully vitims so that they know they are not alone. we as the people see their problems and want to help.
ReplyDelete