Skip to main content
Sojourners
faith in action for social justice
Sojourners
About
About SojournersEventsOur TeamWork With UsMediaWays to GiveInvite a SpeakerContact Us
SojoAction
OverviewTake ActionIssue AreasResourcesFaith-Rooted AdvocatesChurch Engagement
Magazine
Current IssueArchivesManage My SubscriptionWrite for Sojourners
Sections
LatestPoliticsColumnsLiving FaithArts & CultureGlobalPodcastsVideoPreaching The Word
Subscribe
MagazineRenewPreaching the WordCustomer ServiceNewsletters
Donate
Login / Register

Parents: Take Your Children to See 'Bully'

By Sandi Villarreal
Bully movie poster
Bully movie poster
Mar 29, 2012
Share

Tyler Long, 17, hanged himself more than two years ago after being teased and bullied. He joined countless others and more since who have been pushed to the limit and taken their own lives. Bully, which premieres Friday, chronicles the lives of Long’s family, along with five other children tormented on a daily basis.

Bully shows students who are mocked for their sexual orientation both by peers and teachers; they endure beatings on school buses; they have profanities hurled at them—which earned the movie an “R” rating by the Motion Picture Association of America.

MPAA’s decision sparked protests and petitions from anti-bullying groups and eventually made the Weinstein Company, which produced the documentary, release the film unrated.

I watched the film. Bully disturbs me on a basic human level—but not because of the profanity (which is probably fairly mild to the average teen). Bully disturbs me because it is real life. It disturbs me because I have younger brothers the same age as some of the students in the film. It disturbs me because it’s happening in the lives of our children all around the country.

All of us—especially the preteens and teens the R-rating excludes—need to be disturbed.

The point of a film like Bully is public awareness. A few bullying-related deaths over the past few years have shone a light onto the problem, but director Lee Hirsch told NPR’s Diane Rehm that it’s probably more common.

“I often wonder, you know, if this has been happening with the same frequency and we just never attributed it to bullying before,” he said.

One of the most poignant points in the film shows Kirk and Laura Smalley—whose son Ty, 11, killed himself after being bullied—sitting amid the keepsakes in his room.

“We’re just a couple of simple people. We’re nobodies. I guarantee you if some politician’s kid did this because he was getting picked on in a public school, y’know, there’d be a law tomorrow,” Kirk Smalley said.

“We’re nobody, but we love each other and we loved our son.”

Since their son’s death, the Smalleys have been speaking with Stand for the Silent, a campaign aimed at students, warning them of the implications of bullying.

The Smalleys understand that changing things begins with the children. Clearly shown in the film, teachers, bus drivers and principals have little-if-any impact on the violence and torment that abounds in their schools.

As the principal in the documentary tells the parents of bullied teen Alex Libby, “I wish I could stay I could make it stop, but I’m not going to lie to you; I can’t.”

It is likely that every child is either a bully, one of the bullied, or a bystander. For things to change, they need to understand the consequences of their actions.

If you are a parent, I strongly recommend going to the film, hand-in-hand with your child.

For more on 'Bully:'

  • Cries From the Bully-Pulpit
  • Justin Bieber, Other Celebs, Endorse 'Bully'

Sandi Villarreal is Associate Web Editor for Sojourners. Follow Sandi on Twitter @Sandi.

Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!

Tell Us What You Think!

We value your feedback on the articles we post. Please fill out the form below, and a member of our online publication team will receive your message. By submitting this form, you consent to your comment being featured in our Letters section. 

Please do not include any non-text characters, such as emojis or other non-standard content, into your submission.  It may cause errors in submitting the form.  Thanks!

Don't Miss a Story!

Sojourners is committed to faith and justice even in polarized times. Will you join us on the journey?
Confirm Your Email Address.
By entering your email we'll send you our newsletter each Thursday. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Bully movie poster
Search Sojourners

Subscribe

Magazine Newsletters Preaching The Word
Follow on Facebook Follow on Bluesky Follow on Instagram Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Sojourners
Donate Products Editorial Policies Privacy Policy

Media

Advertising Press

Opportunities

Careers Fellowship Program

Contact

Office
408 C St. NE
Washington DC, 20002
Phone 202-328-8842
Fax 202-328-8757
Email sojourners@sojo.net
Unless otherwise noted, all material © Sojourners 2025