Romney's Bullying Past

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been under speculation for behaving as a bully during his school days. Several instances have surfaced about Romney's actions while in prestigious private schools such as playing "the primary role in forcibly pinning fellow student John Lauber to the ground and clipping the terrified Lauber's hair. The soft-spoken Lauber, it seemed, had returned from spring break with bleached-blond hair draped over one eye. Romney, infuriated, declared, "He can't look like that. That's wrong. Just look at him!" Lauber eyes filled with tears as he screamed for help. One of the other students in the dorm at the time said, 'It was a hack job... It was vicious.'" (source)

Romney claims to not remember the incident happening but after five of his classmates came foward describing the incident, did attempt an apology:


The story is still developing so we'll see how Romney continues to handle the situation and the issue of bullying. Stay tuned!

Bully Review

As someone who can't make it through a romantic comedy without walking out of the theater in tears, I knew Bully was going to be emotionally draining. The movie followed several different students and their struggles with bullies. 12 year old Alex is tormented on the bus, while the bus driver and the administration of the school do not intervene. Or 16 year old Kelby, living in a small homophobic town in Oklahoma out as a lesbian. As an aspiring social worker, I couldn't believe how little was being done by the adults in the film to come to the aide of the children who needed support. The assistant principal of Alex's school claimed to have ridden on the school bus line and it was "as good as gold". The ethics of the filmmakers also came into question, as they taped this abuse and also did not attempt to intervene at all.


Seeing how it affects current middle school students is also important, as referenced by these girls after seeing Bully (source):

Did the bullying in the movie look realistic? What other forms of bullying have you witnessed?
“It’s not so much the physical abuse that we see, but the texting, Facebook, verbal abuse.” - Maddy
“It’s realistic, because my brother was bullied a lot in high school, and he never said anything about it. My parents only found out because he started failing every class, and eventually he had to switch to a private school with smaller classes and more help from teachers.” – Isabel

How do you think you can help end bullying, like the movie encourages?
“I like the idea of being encouraged to stand up against bullying, but the movie also makes it seem like it’s almost pointless, because bullying will always continue.” -- Isabel
“I think parents and kids need to make the schools systems change. The movie is starting a movement for change, but it’s just the beginning.” -- Maddy

Even after seeing the film, the 7th and 8th grade girls still see bullying as an uphill battle with the end nowhere near in sight.  It is imperative we start enacting these bullying policies that are actually effective and will help make a difference in the lives of kids like Alex or Kelby.

Let's Get Down to Business...

Did you just assume every state had laws against bullying? Its not the case! On March 19th 2012, South Dakota became the 49th state to pass an Anti-Bullying Law. Only one state left, Montana, that has no bullying policies at all. Some laws are more comprehensive than others. Bully Police has given grades to the effectiveness of the law ranging from "A++" a perfect grade to an F (Looking at you Montana). You can see the list of rankings here.

In Yesterday's NYTimes Schoolbook, the article Should Cyber Bullying be a Crime? they address the Dignity for all Students Act. The bill states that school districts must report instances of bullying to the state Education Department. It also requires schools to adopt programs to counter bullying. The 2010 legislation and will be effective in New York starting July 1st.

• One state senator senator introduced a bill  to raise the punishment of cyber bullying to a felony resulting in prison time if the threat was sent on school grounds. The bill was an attempt to make cyber bullying eligible for prosecution as a hate crime. The Senate Bull has 17 co-sponsors.
• Critics of criminalizing cyberbullying believe that acts such as the Dignity for all students will be much more effective. That bill would just criminalize teens instead of educating them.

And also this week: Legislation to help schools deal with cyberbullying has passed in the Delaware Senate!

You Want to Be a Loser Like Me

My friend just showed me this video and I had to share! Students of Cypress Ranch High School created their own anti-bullying campaign. In the description they state: "We'd love this video to help make a difference and to enforce that we, the students, the teens, want bullying to stop!"

With shows like Glee, and popular music artists writing songs against bullying, music has become another way to express support for anti-bullying campaigns. These students took it upon themselves to all come together and share their message. Glee has had numerous story lines about bullying, when character's have thrown slushies in their classmates faces and a boy struggling with his own sexuality harassing an openly gay character on the show. They even wrote their own original song about bullying Loser Like Me.

It Gets Better/Love is Louder

Anti-Bullying Campaigns have gained worldwide attention with the help of the media. It Gets Better Project was formed  to show LGBT youth "the levels of happiness, potential and positivity their lives will reach" Love is Louder is a campaign started by actress Brittany Snow and MTV reinforncing that love is louder than hate. Its messages remain that teenagers are not alone. The first It Gets Better video was made in September 2010 by author Dan Savage and now over 40,000 videos have been posted and viewed over 40 million times. The It Gets Better Project has not only helped millions of teens, but is following the efforts to continue the fight against bullying specifically in reference to LGBT youth.

• March 20, 2012: LGBT youth, advocates, educators, and politicians join Obama administration officials for panel discussions and workshops geared toward the prevention and intervention of bullying, violence against LGBT students, and federal legal protection of LGBT students.
• March 26-30, 2012: National LGBT Health Awareness Week encourages community members, advocates, service providers, and government officials to recognize health and wellness as an essential part of LGBT social justice.
• March 27-29, 2012: GLSEN youth activists gather at Capitol Hill after days of education on the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) and Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) as part of GLSEN’s Safe Schools Advocacy Summit, culminating in visits with 62 Senators’ and 41 Representatives’ offices to push for the passing of the bills.

  In March of 2011, the Project released a book It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living not only celebrities and politicians but also the youth themselves, parents, educators and religious leaders share their stories.

Me Against the Music

Madonna on Bullying in Media

Junior Plastics

Children are exposed to bullying at an extremely young age. They help shape and develop how we perceive bullying in our formative years. Thinking back on my childhood, I realized just how large a role bullys played in the media I consumed:

Angelica Pickles -Rugrats
"You babies are so dumb, I can't believe you lived to be one."

The original Mean Girl. Angelica, as the older cousin of Tommy and Dil, continuously manipulated the babies to get what she wanted. Regina George really had nothing on her.

All you are is mean....

The recent documentary Bully "aims to be a catalyst for change in the way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children and society as a whole". Sounds like a great idea right? Show kids the effects of bullying through the perspective of everyone involved. The Motion Picture Association of America apparently did not agree. The film was first given an R rating by the MPAA, thus taking out the demographic that would benefit most from seeing the film. Those who were bullying and being bullied were not old enough to see the very thing that could start this catalyst for change. Even those that were interested in seeing the movie may not have their parent's permission simply because the film is rated R, no matter the context. Most schools also are not allowed to show R rated movies and would eliminate another teaching opportunity. 

"Crude Language" was the reason the film received the R rating. If the director decided to eliminate the language to get a lower rating, they felt they were losing the message of the film. The distributor's of the film argued "This message needs to be made available to children and teens in as pure a form as possible, and sanitizing the language serves to strip the film of some of its meaning. Bullying is harsh, and the language of bullying is equally so." The Weinstein Company fought the rating, and won, lowering it to PG-13, making it far more accessible and in turn standing up to their own bully. Small victories that hopefully can go far in the long run. 

“In Girl World, all the fighting had to be sneaky.” – Mean Girls (2004)

On “Pretty Little Liars”, four high school girls are being harassed by anonymous text messages. On “Glee”, a football player attempts suicide after being bullied for being gay. Sense a theme? Throughout all facets of the media, books, television, movies, newspapers kids and adolescents are being exposed to bullying in the media. No matter the genre or the target audience, there is someone causing conflict. Whether it’s Angelica on “Rugrats” or Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter, at least one major character is a bully. As bullying evolves with technology, it translates to television and movies. Is it art imitating life? Or the other way around? There’s no doubt that the media influences today’s youth. Shows like “Jackass” have to include a safety warning before each episode as teens were attempting the dangerous stunts at home. So what would stop viewers from imitating bullying tactics they see on a television show? No longer are bullies on TV shows just name callers and no longer does one need to be face to face.     The Cyber bullying Research Center found that "despite the potential damage of cyber bullying, it is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens. According to Cyber bullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation: Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying."

Bullying is as widespread as ever. Take a look at popular songs from the past year and a half: Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, Pink’s “Perfect”, Taylor Swift’s “Mean”. All of them have a common theme: to empower the listener and give them a boost of confidence. If we can use the power of these media outlets to help further the cause then it is a step in the right direction. Especially with projects like It Gets Better, which contains videos sending positive messages to youth who may be currently struggling with these issues.