Like I said in the last post, the students in my classes have been learning about bullying. Everything they've done has related to this. THey had their Rskills tests on Tuesday and Wednesday, and all the readings and writing was about bullying. As a reward for their focus on the test, the teacher let them watch a video on bullying on Thursday. The video was 30 minutes long and was based on a true story about a boy that was severely bullied by three other boys in middle school. This video showed reenactments of what was happening and I was having a difficult time holding back tears. They showed the kid being pushed and hit around by these other boys and it was actually pretty disturbing. The bullying goes to far and one point and the boys lock the victim in a bathroom and try to give him a "swirly." They accidentally drop him and he hits his head on the toilet seat, knocking him unconscious and putting him in a coma for a couple of days. The three boys are arrested for aggravated harassment. When the other boy returns to school two weeks later, the school holds an assembly in his honor against bullying. Like I said, I had a hard time watching this. It made me sick to my stomach.After the movie ended, my teacher turned the lights on and one of the girls was crying uncontrollably at her seat. It was heart-wrenching. I think that maybe this video was too much for the age group, but I'm hoping that it helps in the long run. The students all took it very seriously. A lot of the kids in the class have behavior issues already, and have gotten in trouble for bullying, so I'm hoping this video will help change this.
To me, this was the most important thing that happened during tutoring this week. I think this had a bigger impact on the students than anything else they did.
That was so sad to read! The movie does sound a little too intense for an elementary age group. I think that a lot of classrooms of all aged children should be introduced to bullying and the harsh effects it has on children early in their schooling. This sounds horrible, but I am in a classroom with a lot of ESL students, and my teacher reminds me daily of the kind of environment that these children come from. Despite how sweet they are during school hours, some of them go home to horrible situations. Some may be watching their parents fight constantly, or watch their parents doing illegal things, which could lead to violence. I feel that if students watch this it could change their outlook on how to treat people, and could change their outlook on life!
ReplyDeleteAlthough the video was pretty intense, I feel that it was a good idea; perhaps for maybe an older age group because it may have been too mature for those particular students, like you said in your post. I probably would have been one of those children crying during the film, but having said that, kids needs to see the effects of bullying. Hopefully the video changed their thoughts and views on bullying, especially some of those students who are guilty of it!
ReplyDeleteSeriously the video was so sad, I still think about it sometimes. I think I'll ask my cooperating teacher where I can find it so I can post it on here. I really think it was effective, because a lot of the students that I thought were bullies have backed off a lot. I think watching the video, as intense as it was, really showed them how hurtful bullying is to other people. They had never seen it from the perspective of a student being bullied before.
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