Bully – it’s time to take a stand and say NO to this violence
August 9, 2012 
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Children desperate enough to take their own lives. Something is really wrong…. Bullying today does not happen just at school – it happens on the streets of our towns, in our homes, at extracurricular activities, at camp, online and in many other places. In order for us to accomplish real change kids, parents, school staff, community leaders and legislators must all come together to help find solutions.“Bully” is the first feature documentary film to explore “a year in the life” of bullying in the United States. From the first day of school through the last, the film intimately follows the lives of a few of the many courageous kids and families bullying affects each day. The film captures the distress of bullying victims, the frustration of their parents, and in some cases, the overwhelming grief when bullying ends a life. It’s a film every parent should watch.
Through the power of these stories, Bully aims to be a catalyst for change and to turn the tide on an epidemic of violence that has touched every community in the United States—and far beyond.
The complexity of the community and culture surrounding a school is illustrated in BULLY in the aftermath of Tyler Long’s suicide in Murray County, Georgia. Five weeks after his death, Tyler’s parents organized a town hall meeting to bring their community together to talk about bullying.
Twenty administrators from the Murray County school system were invited to the town meeting, but none attended. David Carroll, the local television news reporter who moderated the meeting, later wrote that if the school administrators had attended
“they would have heard students tearfully detailing being bullied, wrongly accused, and humiliated in open-stall bathrooms. They would have heard constructive suggestions for more better trained resource officers. Ideas on student honour councils to better enforce and encourage good behavior. Plans to establish parent advocate groups to help fa approach school officials on bullying issues. Goals of uniting churches and support groups to educate families on spotting both bullies and victims.”
What might the participants say about the culture of your school and community?
This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied, making it the most common form of violence young people in the U.S. experience. Directed by Sundance- and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, Bully is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary—at its heart are those with the most at stake and whose stories each represent a different facet of this bullying crisis.
