Recently the College of Education Inclusion Committee hosted an event centered on the movie Bullied.  This movie, available for free to educators here, was produced by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

This movie talks about the "story of a student from Wisconsin who filed a lawsuit against a school district for not protecting him from those who tormented him because of his homosexuality."  It is a powerful film and those viewing spontaneously erupted into applause  at two points.

After the screening panelists Denise Brogan-Kator, Michele Coyne, Kay Waters, and Sue Verduin-Miller led by Shelley Irwin of WGVU reacted to the movie and took questions.   The crowd of students and community members were so engrossed that we ran over time and no one was leaving.  As this Fox 17 coverage of the event relates, during the discussion it was pointed out that Michigan is only one of five states not to address bullying with legislation.  A previous Colleagues article by Dr. Shawn Bultsma here, describes efforts in Michigan to pass legislation.  Called Matt's Law, for a Michigan student who committed suicide after harassment, it seeks to force MI school districts to formulate anti-bullying policies.

As evidenced by the debate at the event, many teachers and future teachers are unsure of how to proceed and are rightfully worried if the administration will support them on decisions they make.  I bring this incident up because at the event it was used as an example.  Google can probably show many more.

Overall the consensus at the event was no matter what, teachers are first and foremost responsible for student well-being and should use the welfare of their charges as a guide.

A number for thought: Compared to their peers, kids who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed. Bullied boys are four times more likely to be suicidal; bullied girls are eight times more likely to be suicidal (Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention, 2003).