Bullying: Film Analysis

Bullying is the “repeated negative acts committed by one or more children against another” (Siegel & Welsch, 2016). These actions can be direct, either physical or verbal, such as hitting or mocking, or they can be indirect actions such as manipulating friendships. There are mainly two types of bullying depicted in the film – direct and indirect. Bullying begins for Alex as he waits at for the bus. The boys waiting with him threaten that they will break his Adam’s Apple. Then on the bus, his peers yell profanity at him and say they want to cut up his face. Students have nicknamed Alex “Fish Face” because his lip was unable to fully develop since he was born at 26 weeks old. During the school day, Alex keeps to himself as he does not have any
National Data indicates that in one year, 21 percent of students report being bullied. Over five million students report having their property stolen or being attacked by a bully. Additionally, a little less than two million students say they have been cyberbullied. Females are more likely to be a victim of bullying than males. This bullying often occurs during grade 6 through 8, usually declining in high school. Furthermore, white students are more likely be bullies of than other races and poor students are more likely to be victims of bullying. Youth who identify themselves as LGBT are more likely to be bullied than other kids. In fact, 30 to 50 percent of gay, lesbian, and bisexual children report being bullied at school. They are two to three times more likely to commit suicide and are five times more likely to miss school than any others. This is the reason a majority of LGBT students drop out of school. Not only are these children bullied by their peers, but often by other adults as well (Siegel & Welsch, 2016). I believe that LGBT youth are victims of bullying because their sexual orientation goes against the norm of society. In addition, these individuals in the minority are often not recognized and protected under school administration. In the film, Kelby, identifies herself as being a lesbian and is greatly bullied in her school. She suffers in her community as she is not welcomed into her church and many of
Since every adolescent seeks acceptance by their peers, they often will act and behave in anyway to be accepted by their friends (Siegel & Welsch, 2016). Unfortunately, this may involve kids engaging in bullying others because their peers behave in this way. In addition, without peer acceptance, one becomes susceptible for bullying because they do not have friends that can help them confront the bully and make them quit, so a bully may see these anti-social individuals as easy targets to bully. This may lead the victim of bullying into becoming aggressive towards others, such as their parents or siblings, or other peers. Additionally, because of the bullying, individuals may be stop going to school, prompting them to drop out. Furthermore, victims of bullying who cannot escape the harassment resort to ending their own life, like Tyler Long and Tyler Fields did. This term is often called “bullycide.” Moreover, Kelby said that without the support from her family and friends, she would have went through with committing suicide too (Hirsch,