Bullies and Friends

Producer: McMillan Media Framework
Year: 2014

Film Description:
This film was made in response to the suicide of a young teenage girl who was bullied as it interviews and follows her family, friends, and others in the society about bullying in their community. This story is groundbreaking because it was the first time in the US that teens were on trial for bullying. Many points of view are documented in this film because there are interviews of her parents and close friends as well as the judge who presided over the trial and one of the girls who was a bully. That part in particular drew me to this documentary because it’s not often that the bullies are interviewed and her willingness to speak out and promote anti-bullying is a great message for middle schoolers to hear. Also, this film is more appropriate content-wise for middle schoolers. Other documentaries I saw had cursing and other graphic content, whereas this one still provokes emotion, while being appropriate to show 6^th graders. This documentary offers solutions and prevention strategies for bullying that applies to students, parents, and teachers, making it additionally appealing. Finally, the film is acknowledged by the United Nations Association as an educational resource for bullying and suicide prevention.

Film Review:
Much like with the popular film choice, this documentary shows the effect of bullying on the whole school and community. By presenting various outlooks on the bullying towards this girl that lead to her suicide, students get to see how bullying one person ultimately hurts everyone in their community. This film also focuses on a single case study, while still presenting the problem with bullying world-wide. Seeing this helps to enforce that bullying is not a one-time occurrence at a single school, but an epidemic throughout the whole world.

National Health Education Standards:

• HBO 3. Avoid bullying, being a bystander to bullying, or being a victim of bullying.
• V1.12.7 Summarize impulsive behaviors that can lead to violence and strategies for controlling them.
• V1.12.9 Analyze how mental and emotional health can affect violence-related behaviors.
• V1.12.10 Analyze the negative consequences of violence to perpetrators, victims, and bystanders.
• NHES Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.
  S2.8.3    Describe how peers influence healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
  S2.8.4    Analyze how the school and community can affect personal health practices and behaviors.
• NHES Standard 8: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.
  8.8.3      Work cooperatively to advocate for healthy individuals, families, and schools.
• WaHES Standards H1.So5.6a Describe different types of harassment, intimidation, and bullying.
• WaHES Standards H1.So5.6b Analyze harmful effects of harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

Core Integration:
When I was in middle school, bullying and suicide were health units that we took as a part of science class. I think the most useful and impactful way to use this documentary in the classroom is to have a discussion and reflection time during class. Students should be able to think about what they watched and share in a safe space the feelings they experienced while watching this film. They could then do some writing about types of bullying they’ve seen in this film or even in the school. They would be given a chance to dramatize some bullying situations so that they could have an opportunity to feel how bullying effects people from different perspectives. Ultimately, we would be working towards creating a safer school that is bully-free.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1.a Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Common Core Theater Standards:

• TH: Cr1.1.6.a. Identify possible solutions to staging challenges in a drama/theatre work.
• TH: Cr1.1.6.c. Explore a scripted or improvised character by imagining the given circumstances in a drama/theatre work.