Guest Post by: Jessica Ognian

It is my belief that everyone has experienced what its like to be the target of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse at some point in their lives. Its important to recognize that abuse is precisely what bullying is.

Our culture seems to view bullying a part of the childhood experience. The play ground hierarchy manifested into trying and at times brutal rite of passage. This ideology is present not only in the movies and on television, but also through shared stories of triumph and defeat passed down through generations. Perhaps in part due to its legendary heritage, many turn a blind eye to instances of childhood bullying. The only way we can truly change the way our culture views it is by personalizing the experience – and the documentary Bully does just that.

This documentary does an excellent job of depicting the emotional and physical toll that bullying has on the victims, their family, and society. The creators literally “take a walk in their shoes”. For me, the most astonishing revelation to me was the lack of support for these children in the school system. How can we, as counselors, create a healing and beneficial support system for them? A few other questions came to mind. What can we as counselors do to prevent bullying? How can we accurately identify when bullying is taking place?

The immediate answer that I thought of to all of these questions was education, not only for the children but also parents and school administrators. Because society tends to separate abuse and bullying, it’s vital to bridge these presumed separate concepts together. However, it won’t be that simple – and we cannot expect it to be. We as counselors cannot work alone to prevent, identify, and alleviate bullying. We need the eyes, ears, and minds of our community to help us in this quest.

This documentary is a great conversation starter – and I believe that is the first step in the pursuit against bullying. Since I’ve watched this film I have had several conversations with friends and family about how bullying has affected their lives and those around them. I was amazed to hear just how many of my close friends and family have been negatively affected by bullying.

I highly recommend that you take the time to see this documentary and get the conversation started.

Movie Review: Bully

Have you seen the movie “Bully”? My husband and I saw it together last month and thought that it was a nice representation of what goes on in communities daily. The movie showcased a significant amount of children who are verbally and physically attacked at school and on the bus by others. What made it hard to watch is that many adults made excuses for those who were the culprits of this type of behavior.
Bullying is something that is not foreign to me. I remember thinking that this was a rite of passage and that there was no escape from this type of peer abuse. My solution was to be as quiet as possible. I tried to remain invisible so that I would not be picked on as much. This worked sometimes but how is it a helpful solution to try and disappear?
I eventually realized that shrinking would only make the bullies happy and secure their victory. What I know now is that bullies come in many different forms. It is not simply a topic for kids. It is a topic for those who are in the workplace. For those who are excluded from campus groups. Bullying can effect any person and/or community. My goal is to make a difference and to allow those who feel like they have a helpful solute to share it with us. I was very impressed by the dad in the end of the movie who decided that he would stand for those who are silent and encourage others to do the same. What would you like to do to become a part of the solution? Tonight many of us are meeting at Max & Erma’s in Birmingham, MI to discuss the movie, solutions and efforts that we can bring to this topic. We’d love to see you there at 7:30.