"Bully" and the R/PG-13 controversy

[hondo]

Why did adults pick this area to abdicate responsibility?

Because you have to admit that your kid is either a bully or being bullied, two uncomfortable truths to face up to.

That age is terrible. Total "Lord of the Flies" free-for-all. I remember how absolutely ashamed I was about being good at school. There was one day, in seventh or eighth grade, when I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up. I had a trophy in my hand from the end-of-year academic awards. A kid who was a year or two older than me - kind of a nice guy meathead type, struck up a conversation with me and asked what the trophy was for.

"Just a stupid academic award," I told him, trying to downplay it.

The kid was like, "'Stupid'? Stupid?! You should be damned proud of that! I would love to be smart enough to win one of those. Don't ever say it's 'stupid.'"

I can't remember the guy's full name now, though I can picture him like it was yesterday. But the moment still stands out to me because it was this unanticipated gesture of kindness and respect in the midst of this time of terror and turmoil and self-doubt.

And, regarding bullying: Sorry, but adults do it, too. They just take it to the Internet. There are enough gang-ups that go on here, in our little corner of the Web, to demonstrate that. And this place is probably among the more civil patches of cyberland.

This internet bullying puzzles me. I know kids have no choice in whether they have to go to school or not, but don't they have a choice in not going on Facebook, etc? You can easily avoid "Internet bullying" can't you?

 

[Ace]

Why did adults pick this area to abdicate responsibility?

Because you have to admit that your kid is either a bully or being bullied, two uncomfortable truths to face up to.

That age is terrible. Total "Lord of the Flies" free-for-all. I remember how absolutely ashamed I was about being good at school. There was one day, in seventh or eighth grade, when I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up. I had a trophy in my hand from the end-of-year academic awards. A kid who was a year or two older than me - kind of a nice guy meathead type, struck up a conversation with me and asked what the trophy was for.

"Just a stupid academic award," I told him, trying to downplay it.

The kid was like, "'Stupid'? Stupid?! You should be damned proud of that! I would love to be smart enough to win one of those. Don't ever say it's 'stupid.'"

I can't remember the guy's full name now, though I can picture him like it was yesterday. But the moment still stands out to me because it was this unanticipated gesture of kindness and respect in the midst of this time of terror and turmoil and self-doubt.

And, regarding bullying: Sorry, but adults do it, too. They just take it to the Internet. There are enough gang-ups that go on here, in our little corner of the Web, to demonstrate that. And this place is probably among the more civil patches of cyberland.

This internet bullying puzzles me. I know kids have no choice in whether they have to go to school or not, but don't they have a choice in not going on Facebook, etc? You can easily avoid "Internet bullying" can't you?

I don't think so. It's like the coaches who say they don't read the paper. If people are out there trashing you, you want to know -- even if you know it's going to make you feel angry and sick.

 

[RickStain]

It's part of their social lives. Being forced to give up part of your social life because someone with more social power is being mean is a perfect example of bullying.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Why did adults pick this area to abdicate responsibility?

Because you have to admit that your kid is either a bully or being bullied, two uncomfortable truths to face up to.

That age is terrible. Total "Lord of the Flies" free-for-all. I remember how absolutely ashamed I was about being good at school. There was one day, in seventh or eighth grade, when I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up. I had a trophy in my hand from the end-of-year academic awards. A kid who was a year or two older than me - kind of a nice guy meathead type, struck up a conversation with me and asked what the trophy was for.

"Just a stupid academic award," I told him, trying to downplay it.

The kid was like, "'Stupid'? Stupid?! You should be damned proud of that! I would love to be smart enough to win one of those. Don't ever say it's 'stupid.'"

I can't remember the guy's full name now, though I can picture him like it was yesterday. But the moment still stands out to me because it was this unanticipated gesture of kindness and respect in the midst of this time of terror and turmoil and self-doubt.

And, regarding bullying: Sorry, but adults do it, too. They just take it to the Internet. There are enough gang-ups that go on here, in our little corner of the Web, to demonstrate that. And this place is probably among the more civil patches of cyberland.

This internet bullying puzzles me. I know kids have no choice in whether they have to go to school or not, but don't they have a choice in not going on Facebook, etc? You can easily avoid "Internet bullying" can't you?

Hondo, you'd be shocked at what a central and unhealthy role that social media plays in young people's lives now. There is all kind of gossip about who "friended" who, who is "friends" with the school dork, who had the nerve to "friend" the hot girl. It's never ending. This is not an indictment of the medium. Teen-agers could make a Caesar salad unhealthy.

 

[JRoyal]

Why did adults pick this area to abdicate responsibility?

Because you have to admit that your kid is either a bully or being bullied, two uncomfortable truths to face up to.

That age is terrible. Total "Lord of the Flies" free-for-all. I remember how absolutely ashamed I was about being good at school. There was one day, in seventh or eighth grade, when I was waiting for my mom to come pick me up. I had a trophy in my hand from the end-of-year academic awards. A kid who was a year or two older than me - kind of a nice guy meathead type, struck up a conversation with me and asked what the trophy was for.

"Just a stupid academic award," I told him, trying to downplay it.

The kid was like, "'Stupid'? Stupid?! You should be damned proud of that! I would love to be smart enough to win one of those. Don't ever say it's 'stupid.'"

I can't remember the guy's full name now, though I can picture him like it was yesterday. But the moment still stands out to me because it was this unanticipated gesture of kindness and respect in the midst of this time of terror and turmoil and self-doubt.

And, regarding bullying: Sorry, but adults do it, too. They just take it to the Internet. There are enough gang-ups that go on here, in our little corner of the Web, to demonstrate that. And this place is probably among the more civil patches of cyberland.

This internet bullying puzzles me. I know kids have no choice in whether they have to go to school or not, but don't they have a choice in not going on Facebook, etc? You can easily avoid "Internet bullying" can't you?

Hondo, you'd be shocked at what a central and unhealthy role that social media plays in young people's lives now. There is all kind of gossip about who "friended" who, who is "friends" with the school dork, who had the nerve to "friend" the hot girl. It's never ending. This is not an indictment of the medium. Teen-agers could make a Caesar salad unhealthy.

Plus, you can ignore it if you choose to. But your friends are seeing it. And your schoolmates.

 

[Dyno]

I saw "Bully" tonight and it was indeed very powerful and very moving. The language thing is ridiculous. I think the f word is said two or three times. That's it. The Bully Project is aiming to bring schools and youth organizations to see it for free or at screenings paid for by sponsors or local groups. Trained facilitators (some of them teens) would lead group discussions with the kids after the screenings. Friends of mine are doing a theater buyout so their 8th grader's class can see it. It wasn't perfect, of course, but it was important and maybe, just maybe, some change can be effected because of it.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Compromise gets it the PG-13 rating. There was one scene where the filmmakers said they wouldn't edit out the use of "fork" but a couple other parts where they would and did.

http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/with-compromise-bully-gets-pg-13-rating_b36350

I'm taking my 12-year-old to this. Did a regular check of his Google Plus feed the other day, and although there's no bullying on it, you can definitely see how easily things can head that way.

 

[Dyno]

Compromise gets it the PG-13 rating. There was one scene where the filmmakers said they wouldn't edit out the use of "fork" but a couple other parts where they would and did.

http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/with-compromise-bully-gets-pg-13-rating_b36350

I'm taking my 12-year-old to this. Did a regular check of his Google Plus feed the other day, and although there's no bullying on it, you can definitely see how easily things can head that way.

There is bullying in it. The scene they're cutting "fork" out of takes place on the school bus and you see one of the kids (Alex) being bullied. Showing actually bullying is not the focus of the documentary, but you do see it. I saw "Bully" a few weeks ago and was very moved by it.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I think you're misreading a couple things, Dyno. The school bus scene is the one that producers said they would not edit. And my statement "there is no bullying" was referring to my son's Google Plus feed, not the movie.

 

[Dyno]

I think you're misreading a couple things, Dyno. The school bus scene is the one that producers said they would not edit. And my statement "there is no bullying" was referring to my son's Google Plus feed, not the movie.

Oops. I had heard from a friend in touch with the producers that they WERE editing the bus scene.

 

[BYH]

The MPAA is holding firm, saying the language is over the top. All I can say is, it would be impossible to come up with a movie that is more corrosive to the mind than The Green Hornet, and that sailed through at PG-13.

Or SwimFan, or The Substitute, or Die Hard 4 or etc etc etc.

PG-13 is the new hard R.

 

[Bodie_Broadus]

This crap shows just how much of a joke the MPAA is.

Times 1,000