kedavra

I have been both the Bully and the Bullied. Let me tell you that neither is fun, there's consequences for both. I was a bully through peer pressure from other girls I was hanging out with at the time in 6-7th grade. They would tell me awful things about other girls (or even boys) in our class and make me believe that this other student should be humiliated in front of other students. I never did anything extreme, but I never felt good about teasing others and I realized my actions were wrong very quickly.

Then there was my best friend who I had known since second grade. He lived across the street from me and we loved taking the bus to school in the morning together. I would meet up at his house, his dad would give me a hug and make us breakfast. He would hold my hand as we crossed the street, always making sure traffic wasn't coming by so we wouldn't get hurt. We were in different classes at school and had different lunch times because of that. I had no clue he was being bullied. I didn't know that other boys would trip him at lunch in front of other people, or that they would steal his backpack and throw it over a fence. The name calling was the worse for him. He couldn't find friends outside of me. I had no idea. One day, there was no answer at his door before school. His dad never made us breakfast again. Everything got so bad that his parents pulled him out of school and moved him hours away. I didn't see him again until years later when he randomly showed up. And he was a completely different person.

Bring this full circle and make me the bullied. I won't go into deep detail because it still hurts today but I'll talk about the effects it had on me and why no child should have to feel unsafe or want to get away so badly. I remember ditching school in THIRD grade. I lived close enough to walk so no one would know if I didn't get on a bus or if my mom didn't drop me off. I went to a park and hung out with myself. I needed a day off from the name calling, ridicule, the making fun of my clothes or the shoes that had holes in them. Kids are horrible to each other. In 7th grade I felt so alone, I tried to commit suicide. My foster sister found me and luckily nothing happened. Eventually I found friends that cared for me and gave me good reasons to come to school and participate in our theatre arts program. I had something to look forward to and this made a world of difference.

I don't have kids yet, but I couldn't imagine being one of these parents of either a bully or someone that is being bullied. There's consequences on both sides.

Onto the REASON for this blog. I would hope that this movie can be shown to its targeted audience- kids in jr. high and kids in high school. If this film is rated R, this may prevent the vast majority of them from being able to view the film. Films have the power to change minds and open peoples eyes. As do many other things. But this focuses on a serious issue. And I think that many of us should help support it. Help make the movie Bully, rated PG-13 and NOT R so that it can get the word out there.

SIGN THE PETITION

At the time of this blog, she only needs about 15k more signatures to make this happen.