Beth Reis and the Safe Schools Coalition Provide Recommendations for Viewing the Film “Bully” and a Few Cautions

Editor: The film, Bully, has been in the news lately over its rating. Now that the issue has been resolved, many young people are likely to go and see it. Beth Reis and the Safe Schools Coalition have put out a set of recommendations for viewing the film with some words of caution. We thank them for giving us permission to reprint the recommendations for our readers.

Important: Using BULLY (the film) as a Tool for Change

By

Beth Reis

Safe Schools Coalition

Last night I had a chance to preview the film BULLY which opens in theaters today. I would describe it as a must-see film that should NEVER stand alone. In fact, its standing alone scares me.


It is a must-see film because it makes agonizingly real the world of the child who is targeted. It demonstrates the potential consequences of this kind of abuse in ways almost nothing else does.


It should never stand alone, however, because it is almost too real in its leaving the viewer with very little hope and few actual strategies for change (whether the viewer is a student, a parent or an educator).


It begs, I think, for a number of things:


A. Faculty meetings and continuing education for administrators and teachers and all school employees are essential in order to use BULLY productively. The problem is that it mostly shows educators’ awkward, probably-well-intentioned attempts at responding to bullying that, in the end, revictimize children and serve to perpetuate the problem. It doesn’t provide the kind of role models for successful intervention that educators desperately need.


B. Parent/community workshops are vital as well. Again, it shows parents experiencing heartbreak and trying their level best, but mostly not giving their bullied children what they need … or not in time. It can succeed at waking parents up … the ones who need that. But with it mostly doesn’t offer modeling of how to communicate to your child that you don’t blame them or to help your child make friends or stand up for themselves. And it offers just a glimpse into asserting yourself at school, but far too few tools for actually succeeding at getting what you need.


C. Family conversations absolutely have to follow your family’s viewing the film. What parts of the film resonate for your children? Have they ever done something they aren’t proud of doing to another kid? How could they make that situation right now? Have they witnessed stuff and felt powerless to do anything? Have they ever tried to help? How? What might they try? Have they been on the receiving end? How have they tried to survive so far? What else might they try … without feeling like they are the one who has to solve it? Have they tried talking with you about it before and do they want to give you feedback about what they most need from you? What can you offer to do for or with them?


D. School-wide conversations in the moment will be essential in order to avoid the film generating increases in bullying and copy-cat suicides and on-going anti-bullying projects will be the ONLY way for the film to have any real impact.


Find lots of excellent tools on-line to accompany the film:


1. Find out where it is playing and enter the site itself here : http://www.thebullyproject.com//


2. Find handouts with concrete ideas for parents, students, educators and advocates here: http://www.thebullyproject.com/indexflash.html


3. Download a comprehensive viewing guide here: http://safeschools.facinghistory.org/content/about-facing-history-and-bully (scroll down)

A Courageous Young Student Fights for his Rights in Court and Wins: Russell Dickerson III Talks to Teachers on What They Need to Know about Bullying

Editor: After enduring years of bullying and harassment during his junior high school and high school years, Russell Dickerson decided to file a lawsuit against the Aberdeen School District in Washington State on the grounds that the “deliberate indifference to ongoing harassment by the school district, which receives federal funds, violated federal law – Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The district’s negligent inaction also violated the Washington Law against Discrimination.” In our post below, “Washington State ACLU Achieves Settlement for Bullying Victim,” we announced a settlement achieved by the ACLU for $100,000 from the district with an additional $35,000 in legal fees to the ACLU. In its announcement (see below), the ACLU draws a picture of the kind of harassment and bullying that young Dickerson underwent. Dickerson, now 20, explained why he took the action he did. “I learned from my parents that you should never give up. You should fight for your rights – you don’t just walk away,” said Dickerson.



We asked Russell if he would write a personal letter to teachers and prospective teachers on what they need to know about bullying and harassment and what they can do. We hope that his thoughts will be the impetus for the beginning of a serious conversation by educators.

Russell Dickerson’s Open Letter to Teachers on What They Need to Know about Bullying and Harassment

By Russell Dickerson III

In today's classrooms, it's hard not to have disruptions in the educational process. With students of different needs, backgrounds and intellect, teaching (and learning) can be hard with disruptions. There might be an unruly child or two with a hyperactive disorder who acts out during a lesson. You might have experienced (or will experience for those who are student teachers) students' heads pointing downwards toward their lap, texting on their phone during a lesson. Sometimes, you'll have parents who advocate their child—not the teachers or the school system—for better or worse, kind of like “the customer is always right” doctrine. These are quite common distractions. Worse yet, bullying can eclipse these relatively small distractions in the educational process.


What effect does bullying have on victims in relation to their learning process? Students who are bullied will find it really difficult and often treacherous to take in the lessons they need to learn. Why? Quite often, when you've just been bullied, you are no longer focusing on what you should be focusing on. You get worried, or you might be sad, mad, scared or upset. Maybe you might be ashamed. Thus, your self-esteem will collapse, and adding fractions will feel so much more difficult, if not impossible. Let's take a look at a different perspective: Nobody likes to be in a place that they attribute negatively. Repeated bullying can make victims feel unwelcome and isolated. Victims of bullying will dread going to school and may frequently become absent. Everybody knows that chronic absences, no matter the circumstance, are detrimental to the educational process.


What about the bullies, and why do they do what they do? Bullies almost always look for “faults” – i.e. what is unique about a person, but gets erroneously interpreted into a defect. The bully usually feels low self-esteem, and feels that they must enhance it, albeit in a negative way. Sometimes, bullies are actually victims of bullying as well. There's also the fact that some students may come from abusive or abrasive families and continue their behavior at school because they think their behavior is acceptable.


What can be done about bullying? I always get asked that question, and unfortunately, there are no right or wrong answers, and it's utopia to think that bullying can be eliminated. I am not an expert on behavior, and it all depends on the kind of culture the school has, and even then, you will be dealing with different kinds of students who come from different cultures, beliefs, values and other factors.


There are good preventative measures that educators can take, though, such as:

• Taking on a “zero-tolerance” stance. No matter what, no matter who, don't tolerate bully behavior. Stay firm with consequences. Stay consistent. When you speak with a student who bullies, try some strategies to help him or her reconsider their actions. For example, ask, “How would you feel if the tables were turned and this happened to you?” Almost always, they'll rethink their behavior.


• Maintaining vigilance. Watch for behavior changes. Has a student who has participated very well in class discussions suddenly become quiet, or a student who normally does stellar work now starts to struggle? While there may be other circumstances (and it's equally important to see the root of the problem for problems not relating to bullying), there's a chance that student may be bullied and harassed. Vigilance doesn't stop there—watch for bullies as well. Even something as subtle as saying something mildly negative (such as “Your shirt looks funny”) may grow and fester to more aggressive behavior. Watch and act accordingly.


• Speaking up. You all know it's necessary to report serious or constant harassment issues to administration, right? Not only do you tell the heads of the school, the parents of the bully need to know. There's always the assumption that the bully's parents are already aware and won't do anything to correct their child's behavior, but that isn't always true. Unfortunately, there are parents who are indifferent, and although rare, actually find no fault in bully behavior. Be candid. Openly admit that their child has a problem. Offer to be an ally and help to come to a resolution that everyone can agree on.


• Being a condolence. While not a preventative measure, it always helps to make yourself available to a student who happens to be a victim of bullying. Never “showcase” your attention to other students, such as in front of the class, as that can cause more problems. Perhaps ask to see the student during recess or whenever, and reassure the student that you won't allow it to happen. It can be even more reassuring when you mention that you might bring up an anecdote of when you were in a similar situation, so the student doesn't feel alone.

There are certain issues that will never go away, and student bullying happens to be one of them. On the positive side, it can be less of a problem if you are firm, take no tolerance, vigilant and aware.

Washington State ACLU Achieves Settlement for Bullying Victim

The ACLU of Washington State announced today a settlement for a former student who had been bullied throughout his junior high and high school years. Below is the ACLU's official announcement.  Our blog has been following this serious problem in this state and across the nation.

January 26, 2012

Contact: Doug Honig, ACLU-WA

206-624-2184

Former Student Gains Major Settlement after Enduring Years of Harassment

A former student who endured severe and persistent harassment throughout junior high and high school has gained a major settlement from the Aberdeen School District, the ACLU of Washington announced today. The ACLU has represented Russell Dickerson III in a lawsuit saying that school district officials were aware of the harassment but failed to take steps reasonably calculated to end it. Under terms of the settlement, Dickerson will receive $100,000 from the district. Additionally, the ACLU will receive $35,000 in legal fees.


“Public school officials must be held accountable when they fail to meet their responsibility to act decisively when a student is subjected to harassment by his peers. This settlement sends a message to school districts statewide to take strong action as soon as they learn that a student is being bullied,” said Sarah Dunne, ACLU-WA legal director.


“I learned from my parents that you should never give up. You should fight for your rights – you don’t just walk away,” said Dickerson.


Russell Dickerson III, now 20, is an African-American resident of Aberdeen. For six years, from 2003 when he entered junior high until 2009 when he graduated high school, other students harassed Dickerson on the basis of his race, sex, and perceived sexual orientation.

At Miller Junior High, Dickerson was called names by other students and found notes in his backpack and taped to his back calling him “stupid nigger” and “dog.” Students tripped him in the hallways and threw food at him in the cafeteria. In one incident, three students pushed him to the floor in the hallway and smashed a raw egg on his head; only one of the students was disciplined.


At Aberdeen High School, the harassment escalated, with Dickerson subjected to a continuing barrage of viciously derogatory insults about his race, physical appearance, and suspected sexual orientation. Dickerson suffered physical harassment, with other students pinching and fondling his chest, spitting on his head, and throwing objects at him. Although an assistant principal discouraged Dickerson from reporting misconduct by the student’s peers, the student and his parents repeatedly reported incidents of harassment to district administrators, both verbally and in writing. Yet the district failed to take adequate steps to end the harassment.


In 2007 students in the district created a website mocking Dickerson and his perceived sexual orientation, and posted threatening racist comments on it. Students discussed the website at school. Grays Harbor Superior Court issued a no contact order between Dickerson and one of his harassers who had threatened on the website to lynch him, yet Dickerson became the target of retaliatory harassment after reporting the website to school authorities.


The school district’s failure to act created a hostile educational environment for the student. His academic progress was hindered, he was isolated at school, he felt discouraged from using his locker, and he avoided extra-curricular activities that put him in contact with his peers. Further, the student suffered extreme emotional distress, including an inability to concentrate on studies, serious depression, despair, and anxiety.

Filed in December 2010 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, the lawsuit said that the deliberate indifference to ongoing harassment by the school district, which receives federal funds, violated federal law – Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The district’s negligent inaction also violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

ACLU-WA cooperating attorneys Michael Scott, Joseph Sakay, and Alexander Wu of Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson P.S. and ACLU-WA staff attorneys Sarah Dunne and Rose Spidell represented Dickerson.