Reflection on “Bully” the movie

     This film evokes many emotions. It is a documentary on the effects of Bullying on children in schools. It details the lives of several children, and the results they and their families endured due to bullying on school grounds, and elsewhere. I recommend everyone to watch this film as it opens eyes to an everyday fact and can direct you to better educate yourself and your kids to resist bullying.

Here is the link: The Bully Projcet

     While watching this film I have to say, I shed a few tears. I have felt the effects of bullying from classmates and siblings, even bosses and so felt empathic to their situation. I am thankful that I was not a shy person, or suffering from low self-esteem, even though I was labeled geek, dork and other derogatory terms while suffering through grade and high school. The way I personally dealt with this unfortunate side effect of being different was to confront the bully. This confrontational attitude detered them from feelings of superiority and control and gave them the message that it would be difficult to continue that behavior.
     I wondered how the parents could be so oblivious to the plight of their child, given his demeanor and attitude. Unfortunately, the death of their child woke them up to action, and I am glad they are seeking to educate other kids and parents of the dangers of bullying. The one story about the child who acquiesced to the abuse of others under the idea that bad friends were better than no friends really saddened me. No one should have to choose this, and even though it is human nature to avoid that which is different, if parents educated their children better this would likely happen less. Tolerance is the key factor in suppressing this form of abusive behavior.

 

    This is definitely a public health concern as it attacks all ages with detrimental effects. There are long term effects on the psychological health of those being bullied.  

Harvard health states in regard to children:

 ” Victims of chronic childhood bullying are more likely to develop depression or think about suicide as adults compared with those who weren't bullied, while former bullies are more likely to be convicted of criminal charges.” - See more at Harvard Health

The Psychiatric times states:

“Bullying is recognized as a major public health problem in the Western world, and it appears to have devastating consequences. Cyber bullying has become an increasing public concern in light of recent cases associated with youth suicides that have been reported in the mass media. Most of the studies that have examined the association between bullying and suicidality have been cross-sectional. Those studies show that bullying behavior in youth is associated with depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. These associations have been found in elementary school, middle school, and high school students. Moreover, victims of bullying consistently exhibit more depressive symptoms than non-victims; they have high levels of suicidal ideation and are more likely to attempt suicide than non-victims”. - See more at: Psychiatric Times

It goes beyond bullying at school, and dives into the adult realm of work. The Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway has this to say:

“Several studies based on interviews with victims have stressed the serious negative impact bullying may have on both health and wellbeing. Although negative effects of bullying and harassment at work may also be observed on an organizational level, most of our research on effects has been on the individual victims of workplace bullying. However, in our study among Norwegian union members, 27% claimed that harassment had influenced negatively on the productivity of their organization”- See more at Univerity of Bergen

I feel that we can work as a society to combat bullying in the following ways.

First, we must teach our children to stand up to a bully. This may include not only reporting the abuse to teachers, parents and other authority figures, but literally informing the bully that they are not having an effect on the victim. If this does not work, and the bully is abusively persistent, the first step should be to have a meeting in a neutral zone between parents and children of both sides. If a solution can not be reached, then it should be up to the parents of the abused child to seek legal action against the perpetrator in the form of a restraining order or formal legal charges.

Secondly, we should teach all children to be tolerant to the differences of others. Each individual has abilities that others may also have even if there are vast differences as well. There is usually some kind of common ground to begin open communication with. Teaching children to be cooperative will have positive effects on their lives.  

 

Lastly, we should look into the causes that make people bully in the first place. Often times it is because they are bullied or oppressed in some way. If we implement programs for those individuals that have urges to behave this way, we might stave off the effects on other unsuspecting innocents.