(MintPress)— A 12-year-old girl in Rhode Island was lured to her classmates’ house, under the premise of attending a slumber party, then savagely beaten.
The victim was punched, kicked, bitten and scratched by two 12-year-old girls and two 13-year-olds on March 24.
The four girls responsible for the attack are facing criminal charges following the violent act, which was videotaped by an onlooker- a man who did nothing to stop the attack – and afterwards posted it online on YouTube.
Holly Gingerella, the victim’s mother, downloaded the video and took it to police, who filed charges against children involved. The video was later removed from the internet, and other images of it taken on cell phones by the alleged perpetrators were confiscated by police at the school the children attend.
Gingerella told a news outlet in Rhode Island, “This needs to stop and not continue. These kids that they’re bullying, these are people’s brothers and sisters and grow up to be mothers and fathers.”
It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students, according to the National Education Association.
In addition, the US Department of Health and Human Services reports that between 2001 and 2007, bullying has been on the rise and, in 2009, one in five high school students report that they were bullied on school property.
The government agency has defined bullying as repeated interpersonal behavior that is intended to do physical or psychological harm. It has also pointed out that increasingly, schools, communities, parents, and adolescents are acknowledging that bullying is not a rite of passage, but rather a practice that can be extremely damaging to children and teens
Bully Film Stirs Controversy
The attack comes at roughly the same time that the documentary BULLY opens in theaters in the US.
The film documents several students being bullied at school by their classmates, following them over the course of a year.
The film has caused controversy though, after it was rated “R” for language deemed inappropriate for minors. The film’s director, Lee Hirsch, elected not to edit out the bad language, and says that the language “is what makes the film powerful because it’s what makes bullying real.”
“This story has been huge over the past two years – but it’s not disappearing. Now that it’s out and everyone’s still talking about it, we as a country are beginning to realize how much pain it has caused,” Hirsch said in an interview with Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit that works with educators across the world, believing that education is the key to combating bigotry and nurturing democracy, the group’s website details.
Hirsch, who grew up in New York, admits he was a victim of bullying himself. “Somewhere in elementary school, it became fun to hit Lee,” he said. “Just getting home was an absolutely terrifying experience for me.” Hirsch says he received no support from his school or at home.
He began filming BULLY in the fall of 2009, after two 11-year-old boys – one from Massachusetts and one from Georgia – committed suicide following prolonged harassment at school.
He toured many schools across the country, following five students and families. “I wanted to understand how [bullying] is handled, how it is approached within the walls of the [school] building,” he said.
“Bullying is such a deep issue that it impacts who we are as a nation. “I believe in my heart that for many young people, bullying is the first form of violence and ugliness we experience in a real way in our lives. This is where we meet violence, whether we’re a victim, or a perpetrator, or a bystander, and who we are in the face of that has lifelong repercussions,” Hirsch commented, adding that 18 million kids will be bullied in the U.S. this year; three million will be absent each month because they feel unsafe in school.
The Motion Picture Association of America’s “R” rating means that anyone under the age of 17 has to be accompanied by a parent or guardian to see it. Some argue because of this rating, many children who should see the film now likely may not.
And, many educators who were hoping to use the film in schools as a tool for teaching anti-bullying were disappointed by the rating as well.
A teenager in Michigan started a petition on Change.org, seeking to have the rating changed, writes, “I can’t believe the MPAA is blocking millions of teenagers from seeing a movie that could change — and, in some cases, save — their lives. Think of how many of these kids could benefit from seeing this film, especially if it is shown in schools?”
The Weinstein Company, which produced the film, formally appealed the rating to the association to have the rating changed. And, the petition garnered nearly a half a million signatures. Despite these efforts, the “R” label has stayed in place.
A study guide to accompany the Bully documentary was created by Marc Skvirsky, vice president of Facing History and Ourselves. The guide focuses both on bystanders and what many anti-bullying campaigners call “upstanders”, or kids and adults who stand up to bullying when they see it.
Top Down Efforts
In March of 2011 the White House held a Conference on Bullying Prevention, and today US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan unveiled a revitalized Stop Bullying website, which aims to encourage children, parents, educators, and communities to take action to stop and prevent bullying.
According to a press release from the agency, students who are bullied are more likely to struggle in school and skip class. It also stated that they are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, become depressed, and are at higher risk of suicide.
“Bullying is not just an education or health problem, it is a community problem,” Sebelius said. “We are committed to working together at the federal level to help communities, schools and families address it as a single problem.”
The website gives concrete steps that students, parents, educators and community members can take to prevent and stop bullying.
CNN reported that the mother of the girl accused of leading the Rhode Island attack March 24 said , “I love my daughter, too. But my daughter needs help. My daughter has done this too many times. She needs to be punished for this.”
The 12-year-old girl who was beaten is recovering, according to her mother.
“My daughter is doing OK. She doesn’t look very good, but she’s a strong child. She’s physically healing. I think that emotionally it will take a little bit longer.”
Source: MintPress