Reflections on the movie Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch

Student Name: Delmi Rodriguez Dear students, Thank you all for your compassionate and respectful viewing of Bully. I am so very proud of you and how you have grown since ninth grade. Here are some questions that I hope will help you process through the emotions that I know you were feeling during the movie. Love, Ms. Lipton

Please italicize and bold your responses, as I did in the letter above. 1. There were five bullied students profiled in the movie: Tyler, Alex, Ty, Jameya and (the girl whose name I dont remember). For each of them, numbered 1-5, describe the main reason or reasons you believe they were bullied. 1) Tyler was bullied because he wasnt really a social person, he was an outsider. 2) Alex was bullied because he looked different and he let himself be bullied. 3) Ty was bullied because people didnt like him and he was a target for other kids. 4) Jameya was bullied because the girls didnt like her and they would call her names. 5) Kelby was bullied because she was different and many people viewed her sexuality as a bad thing. 2. Have you ever known anyone who was bullied for one of the above reasons? Tell the story of that persons bullying. Yes I do, in sixth grade I knew a boy who was in my grade and he was gay and a lot of people use to make fun of him and pick on him. 3. We saw some poor handling of bullying by school officials and parents. Describe one of those situations and what you believe was done wrong. The principal in Iowa basically blamed the victim for being bullied. She didnt handle the situation well, she talked to the victim and let the actual bully go. She didnt tell the bully anything, she did make the bully apologize but it didnt do anything.

4. If you were Alexs parent, and he came home from school and said to you he was just kidding around when he shoved me, what would you say to Alex? Is there something else you would say or do? I would tell Alex that it is not okay for someone else to shove you around or hit you. I would immediately then go straight to the principal and if she didnt do anything I would talk to the bullies parents and set them straight. I would just take action to defend my kid. 5. If we have a class discussion about the movie, could you please suggest 1-2 questions that you think would be worthwhile discussing as a group? How parents should notice that their kids are changing. As a parent, you should notice a change in your kids behavior. 6. Any other comments or reflections? This movie got me really mad because at school, if you dont feel safe you are told to tell an adult. But those same adults dont do anything to help you, they just stand by and watch.