I saw Bully near the beginning of this year and I am still thinking about it now. It haunts me. As the mother of two boys, the older of which is Autistic, this movie frightened the hell out of me.
It is hard enough growing up. Your body changes. EVERYONE goes through an awkward phase and kids are mean. I suffered through probably MORE than my fair share of bullying as a kid. I was a tomboy, still am. I LIKE having my hair short. I LOVE playing sports but it seems that doing that and being a heterosexual girl was just too WEIRD for most people around me.
Watching these kids on this movie being tortured brought up those past memories and made me hurt anew. And it made me so fearful for my son. He is different in the most beautiful way. He sees the world in a way I can’t even imagine and he is the smartest person I know. To think that ANYTHING like what happens in this movie could happen to him terrified me. And made me protective.
The lesson from this movie, TALK to your kids. Make sure they aren’t being harassed and for gods sake make sure they aren’t the ones dishing it out.
