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FILM SCREENING
Date. Tuesday. April 17
PRESENTED BY
bbyo
lutation: Uptown Birmingham 8
211 S. Old WoodwardAvenue
Birmingham, Ml 48009
Evert Details: bhp 0T/bully/del:nit
fighting Back
Matt Firsten of West
Bloomfield and Ni le
Goodman of Orch rd La
coordinated the
BBY0 Bully screening.
Teens and community groups join together to end
the torment of bullying.
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer
B
ully, a documentary by writer/direc-
tor Lee Hirsch, poignantly depicts
the physical and emotional torment
endured by five children who were victim-
ized by bullies in different cities across the
country. Two of the five subjects committed
suicide as a result of the bullying.
One of the most distressing aspects of
Bully is the knowledge that these kids are but
a microcosm of a nationwide epidemic.
The U.S. Department of Education esti-
mates that more than 13 million children
and teens are bullied each year. Because most
of these perpetrators act in groups rather
than alone, the number of bullies could be as
high as 50 million.
According to the IJ. S. Department of
Justice, a child is bullied every seven min-
utes. The National Association of School
Psychologists reports that approximately
160,000 students stay home from school
every day because of bullying.
Teens who are bullied also are more likely
to commit suicide, which is the third lead-
ing cause of teenage deaths, according to the
Centers for Disease Control.
Increased awareness, along with public-
ity from several bully-related suicides in
the past few years, have prompted local
teens and other community groups to band
together and work to put a stop to the bul-
lying.
8 April 26 . 2012
Dr. Jackson Katz speaks about standing
up against bullies.
Sexism In The Media
According to anti-sexist advocate, filmmaker
and author Dr. Jackson Katz, there is a con-
nection between bullying and other forms of
violence and the sexist messages conveyed
through popular culture and the media.
Boston-based Katz visited Metro Detroit
on April 15-16 for a series of presenta-
tions sponsored by the Jewish Women's
Foundation and the Jewish Coalition Against
Domestic Assault (JCADA), along with sev-
eral other local organizations.
One of the events was a screening of the
documentary Miss Representation, which
showed the many ways women and girls are
demeaned and objectified in films, television
and advertising. Katz also facilitated a men-
only power breakfast, a community lunch-
and-learn and a program for teens from
local religious and youth groups.
"Bullying is related to all of this," he said.
"Relationship abuse and sexual harassment
are forms of bullying — taking advantage
of another person who is perceived to be
weaker."
Katz emphasized that
members of both sexes
have a responsibility to
combat sexism, bullying
and domestic violence
and urged males and
females to work together
as allies instead of
viewing one another as
Ellen
enemies.
Yashinsky
"His message was life
Chute
changing and inspiring
for all who heard it; it set
the stage for our community to come togeth-
er in the understanding that violence against
women is everybody's business," said Ellen
Yashinsky Chute, chief community outreach
officer for Jewish Family
Service.
Katz's message reso-
nated for West Bloomfield
teen Vanessa Farkas,
who attended his teen
presentation. Farkas was
a baby when her mother
left
an abusive marriage,
Vanessa
fleeing
the state with her
Farkas
and her two older siblings. Farkas said she
was inspired to help spread awareness about
domestic abuse by her mother, who has spo-
ken to many groups and organizations about
her ordeal.
"People don't understand that these things
happen, especially in our Jewish community'
Farkas said."Ifs really important for every-
one to be aware; there can be signs of control
and abuse that people don't recognize'
Katz showed the teens video clips from
several Disney movies to illustrate how the
films depict women as flirtatious beings
whose main goal is to find the ideal man,
preferably a prince or other powerful male
figure.
He said that The Little Mermaid movie,
which many considered more enlightened
than earlier Disney films because of its
plucky female protagonist, shows Ariel giving
up her voice for the man she loves. Despite
her spirited personality, she ultimately had
to rely on the prince to rescue her from the
evil Sea Witch, which allowed her to regain
her voice.
Many of the teens were surprised and
affected by this segment of the presentation.
One eighth-grade girl said that it made her
angry to think that, as a child, she had been
unwittingly manipulated by the messages
conveyed by these films.
"They did a good job with the Disney
clips'," said Farkas. "Most of those things I
never would have picked up on:'
Fighting Back on page 10