Category Archives: Bullies

Mar 30 3 comments
Bullies, Rachel Simmons

Back to the Bully – Bully Week #4

Don’t go bullistic but it’s Day #4 of Bully week!

Back to the Bullies

I heard a statement about Bullying this morning on NPR that makes perfect sense. It’s that a bully is a performer.  And what does a performer need? A performer needs an audience. Take away the audience and the bully loses both her power and her incentive.

This allows the possibility for the change to be not just with the bullier and the bullied. It gives those who are bystanders and witnesses power too. Yes, they have the power to say something to the bullier, but that can backfire and cause the bully to turn her attention to the person protesting.  But what if those with the bullier simply walk away.  What if they decide to not witness it? What then?  It allows the bystanders to have power in a way that will not hurt themselves but will still contribute to the bullying being reduced.

Whatever course the bystander takes, it takes courage. But that is important and good that they learn to exhibit courage since it is a character trait everyone badly needs as they enter into adult life.

Drawing by Marty Coleman who has been both in his life.

Quote by Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls

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I didn’t know it when I started but this is an appropo week to be doing a series on Bullying.  The documentary movie ‘Bully’ is coming out this week. It is meant to be seen by teens and in schools but the movie rating board gave it an R rating for language.  The Weinstein Company, it’s distributor, decided to release it unrated instead.  I hope it gets a wide audience, in spite of it being unrated.  Here is a trailer for it.

Mar 29 4 comments
Bullies

The Bully Cure – Bully Week #3

I was having a hard time finding a quote about bullying this morning. There are many good ones but nothing hit me right today. I was browsing around when I finally decided I would click on the ubiquitous Britain’s Got Talent clip that shows a duo on stage. I knew they were singers but I had seen enough of those over the years to know that often times they underwhelm me so I still hadn’t clicked on it. But today I did.  Take a look, it’s worth it.

 

THE CURE

I am not showing it because of the singing, which is indeed magnificent.  I am showing it because it is a great example of the best cure for bullying. What is that cure? Love is that cure.  Not the idea of love, but the action of love.

Jonathan, overweight all his life, is the object of bullying and teasing.  His heart is broken and little pieces of him are taken away each time it happens.  Then this one girl in his school sees him deeper than the others. She needs love to see deep. She needs courage to not do what her peers are doing, either neglecting Jonathan or deriding him.  They become a duo and took the stage at this competition.

As can be expected (otherwise it wouldn’t be on YouTube) they exceeded expectations.  But it’s what Jonathan said that really made the tears flow for me. Simon Cowell said he was great but Charlotte was not and that he would be better off going on in the competition alone.  Jonathan replied saying, ‘we came as a duo, we will continue as a duo’. Charlotte’s inner beauty of love had it’s own return at that moment,  Jonathan’s best way of showing love back to her. 

That to me is the best cure for bullying because, in truth, we will never get rid of bullying. It will never be regulated out of humanity.  But we can overcome it with love and that is what this is all about.

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Commentary by Marty Coleman

Mar 28 2 comments
Bullies, hate, Taylor Swift

The Bully on Stage – Bully Week #2

Bullieve it or not, it’s day #2 of Bully Week at the NDD

The Bully on Stage

The quote is by Taylor Swift, the singer songwriter.  She is young, blonde and cute. She is sometimes seen in the cliche filter those traits bring out, namely that she is weak and fragile.  But she is not.

She has a secret weapon to fight back against the haters and the bullies.  She uses her creativity and her voice to tell the story of the bully and put him or her on stage for all to see.  The bully doesn’t like that.

My new bestie, Delfin Joaquin Paris III (how can you not like a guy named Delfin) had his way of putting the bully on stage. He got some nasty hate mail and wrote this in response.  http://thoughtsfromparis.com/thoughts/i-got-my-first-hate-mail/

How can you put the bully in your life on stage, exposed?  How can you help your sons or daughters do the same, while keeping safe from further harm?

 

Drawing by Marty Coleman

Quote by Taylor Swift

Mar 27 0 comments
Bullies, Eric Hoffer, fear

The Bully’s Fear – Bully Week #1

It’s not bullony that it’s officially Bully Week at the NDD!

The Bully's Fear

Tell us a bully story of yours and what your thoughts are about it now.

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Drawing by Marty Coleman

Quote by Eric Hoffer

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