go see the movie, and blog (5pts); attend the discussion with the director and blog (5pts). you can do either, or both. make it clear in your post what you attended.
UNI TO HOST 'BULLY' FILM PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR
UNI's Center for Violence Prevention is supporting the Bully Project's: 1 Million Kids movement by bringing the documentary film, "Bully," to the Marcus College Square Theatres in Cedar Falls. Students and educators in Cedar Falls and Waterloo schools and UNI will receive a total of 1,000 tickets for the film which will be shown April 27 through May 1. The public can purchase tickets through Marcus College Square Theatres. UNI will host "Bully" film director, Lee Hirsch and producer, Cynthia Lowen for a special panel discussion at 4 p.m., Tuesday, May 1, in Sabin Auditorium. UNI faculty who research and educate about bullying will join Hirsch and Lowen. The panel will discuss bullying and strategies for prevention as well as the film.
I attended both the lecture/discussion panel and the documentary "Bully." I really enjoyed learning about bully prevention and what I can do to stop it. The panel discussion included eight speakers. The producer, filmmaker, professors from UNI, and other people who are part of the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area. This discussion involved each one of the speakers talking abou their experience with bullying. Most work in a school district and there are different ways they talked about helping with bullying. I thought it was a little weird that the discussion panel didn't talk much about how we can prevent bullying and different measures we can take to solve this. Most of the speakers talked about different experiences they themselves have had with bullying or stories about bullying. There were lots of people at the lecture and it only lasted an hour with a short question and answer segment afterwards.
I really enjoyed the documentary. I felt like it could have been a little more agressive with showing the punishment for the kids who were bullying other kids. It talked about different situations and there were different characters in the film. One was a boy named Alex, from Sioux City, Iowa. He was bullied almost everyday because he was different. Another character was a girl named Kelby, she was a lesbian growing up in a small town in Oklahoma. There were many other characters as well, but those two stood out the most to me because I could relate. First the boy, Alex was from a small town in Iowa and he was being bullied daily and his parents would go and talk to the school but the school wouldn't do anything about it. The girl named Kelby was a lesbian and people didn't like her because she was different. I felt for these kids because I've been that age and it's tough growing up and being different than everyone else. I was adopted and I don't look like my caucasian parents so I was always bullied because I didn't look the same as everyone else. I learned to get through it, but I also think it was easier for me because there wasn't as much technology involved when I was younger as there is now. It brought back a lot of memories watching this film.
I teared up a few times watching the documentary "Bully" and I hope my children never have to go through it. But I will always be there for my children and stand up for them. I hope by the time I have children something will change and things will be a little different. I think it is awful that kids are committing suicide because of bullying. It hurts and we need more people out there making a difference.