“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Many of us heard this as children. According to several studies, over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. And approximately 160,000 students skip school because of bullying in the U.S alone. It must be one of the hardest and most difficult challenges that many of our children have to face, as many of us have. We can all agree that bullying is terrible, and that no one deserves to suffer at its hands. But it’s always difficult to agree on how to overcome this social phenomenon, especially at school, where it is a growing issue that has in recent times led to much discussion. I personally believe that it is everybody’s responsibility to stop bullying. If I pass by someone being bullied, it’s my duty to intervene. Ignoring the issue will only make it worse. Up TV channel made a powerful film exploring just this.
The film begins with two girls sitting at a bus stop talking with a third girl. But their words are as harmful as a thousand swords.
“I know people from your dance group and they said they pretended to be sick to avoid having to go to your birthday party,” “Didn’t you audition for the musical?” “People told me that you sound like a dying pig” and “You really need makeup.”
It’s really painful to watch her get abused in such a cruel way – until the movie takes a turn and people start to intervene. Other people at the stop bus interrupt the bullies and show their support for the girl.
When the two bullies tell the girl needs makeup, one woman incredulously responds: “No, she does not!”
Others interject too, with comments such as: “Do you guys have anything nice to say? You guys are just talking shit”, “Leave her alone”, “Stop teasing her” and “That’s what you do that destroys people’s self-esteem.”
A mother asks the girl to ride the bus with her, and another woman tells the girl to sit next to her.
Even an older man tells the girl to sit next to him and he starts playing harmonica to cheer her up.
Watch the moving short film below
It really touched me to see all these people stepping in. The beautiful message of the film is clear: we must all stand together to stop bullying. Please share if you agree!
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