Documentaries To Watch: The Bully Project

If you don't want to read any of what I have to say, at least view the trailer down below.

Sometimes I just want to go back to a school, ANY school, and be some kind of instructor, teacher, counselor, or monitor that just watches out for these kids. I can see how spotting every bullying situation could be difficult for teachers and administrators alike, but at the same time I was harassed for years consistently and not once, NOT ONCE, did any teacher or administrator do a fucking thing about it.  Until my mom forced them to.

Over a period of four years, 5-8 grade, at lunch, in class, in the locker room, at physical education, in the halls.... there wasn't a single place except maybe the bathroom where I wasn't tormented. This behavior in school will never stop until something is done. Now that I think about it, only you can stop someone from bullying another person when you witness it in action. Trying to handle it through force or punishment isn't possible. Only through educating the students as early as kindergarten on why bullying is wrong and hurtful will be the only way to stop all this pain.

These kids need to be taught how horrible it can feel to be on the other end of the jokes, harassment and ridicule, but also learn how easy and misguided one can be to join in on the fun - taking part without realizing the damage they have done.

Teach them the power of words and how much more of an impact they can sometimes be than a fist to the face. Words can stop bullying and create new friends, yet still have the ability to cause unimaginable pain depending on how they're used.

Show them how being smart or small or different or gay is not the equivalent to being a freak, something wrong or a very bad thing. Being unique is a gift. It's special because you're not like everyone else. You're you, and you're great just for being who you are. It's a message that isn't shared enough today.

But no matter what is done in the schools to teach our kids to be kind to each other, as long as they continue to see horrible examples of bigotry, hate and abuse set by our politicians, pastors and parents, there will never be an end to the suffering and fear some kids face every day they go to school. This can be changed. It can no longer be accepted as a rite of passage or child's play, and to anyone out there that would dare call the protection of a gay child from anti-gay rhetoric "freedom of religion" or "anti-Christian bigotry"...... to hell with you.

I know this is a very inappropriate stance to take and is the absolute worst way to try and bring all people together to stop this epidemic....but seriously...to hell with you! Open your mind, your heart and your eyes and see that these kids are dying right in front of us. They are innocent and have done nothing to deserve this, but when you hide behind your religious beliefs to cloak your hatred and bigotry you are the bullies. You are the instigators. You are the cause of this pain and suffering that no loving God would condone, and you are an accessory to murder if you do not change your words and actions that have farther reaching consequences then you could ever imagine. Stop worrying about the life of an unborn fetus and start caring about the child that cries himself to sleep every night because he knows he's different, he knows he can't change, and all he wants is the torture and pain to stop so that he can truly be loved just the way he is. Will you love him for who he is or condemn him for being a sinner? What would Jesus really do.

We all have the power to stop this ongoing tragedy. Whether it be taking action to enact anti-bullying laws, speaking to your school administrators or simply having a conversation with your child. I beg all of you to do something, anything, to try and attempt to eradicate this evil that has been going on in our schools for way too long. I can't say this enough but these kids are dying, and unless we act, more will continue to have their lives cut short by this catastrophe that is bullying. Don't be the parent standing over the grave of your 12 year old child. Don't be the school official that didn't intervene and say something. Don't be the person that talks about religious values when you can't even comprehend what they truly mean. Don't be a bully and don't be a bystander that does nothing. Be a hero. It's definitely not an easy task and it never will be, but someone has to do it. There is no Superman. There is only you and your ability to love and be kind to others, over an easy choice to hate. You have the power. Make the right decision. Stop bullying today.

Almost a year ago, my partner Peter posted this trailer on his blog, Blade 7184 that moved me beyond words, and it will finally be released on March 9, 2012.  Please watch it, it would mean a lot if you did.

The Bully Project Trailer

click to enlarge

If you're reading this I want you to click on that picture above and read what I circled in Red.  If your child has to resort to posting videos on YouTube and make a similar statement, you're doing something wrong.

I have two short sentences for you - If you're a parent, you should know better.  If you're a bully, blame your parents.

I grew up being bullied by classmates.  I know how it feels to be made fun of, picked on, hit, kicked, spit on, laughed at, the list goes on.  I can't even count the number of times I contemplated suicide, and if you know me personally today, you would never have thought that.  

You can also be bullied later in life as well. If you're in a relationship where your partner makes fun of you in front of other people, or mocks you for gaining weight, that's a bully.  If you make jokes about the person you love and then say, "I was just playing" - You're a bully.

"More than 18 million young people across the US will be bullied this year. This alarming documentary takes us into the disquieting day-to-day lives of five kids and their families over the course of a school year. Two families are left devastated by their sons' suicide, while one mother faces her 14-year-old daughter's incarceration after she threatens her bullies with a gun. Rare access to the Sioux City Community School District captures up close and disturbing 'on the ground' footage of bullying in classrooms, playgrounds, cafeterias, and school buses. Kids who are made into outcasts at school become the film's heroes as they defend their right to be different and courageously give testimony to the trauma and dangers of severe bullying. " - The Bully Project