Bully—the documentary on bullying by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch—opens today, just in time for spring break.
The movie gives an intimate look into the lives of several children and families whose lives are changed by bullying.
According to the filmmakers, more than 13 million American children will be bullied this year.
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The movie ratings organization, MPAA, originally gave Bully an "R" rating, which the filmmakers appealed. When the appeal was denied, Katy Butler, a teenager from Michigan, started a petition to convince the MPAA to change the movie's rating to "PG-13."
In two months, more than 500,000 people signed the petition. Rep. Mike Honda (D-California) issued a congressional sign-on letter urging the MPAA to change the movie's rating and got 35 fellow Representatives to sign the petition. Two months after Katy created the petition, the MPAA relented.
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Starting today, Friday, April 13, Bully will be showing locally at Santana Row, the Mercado in Santa Clara, and Shoreline in Mountain View.
The film is the first step in The Bully Project, an effort to end bullying and transform our schools and communities. In addition to watching and talking about Bully, The Bully Project invites children and adults to share their stories of bullying.
The nonprofit organization Facing History and Ourselves, which works to combat racism and prejudice, is offering free online workshops for the next few weeks to prepare educators to use the movie effectively with students. Facing History also offers a free study guide for use with the movie.
Editor's Note: Dyan Chan leads the Los Gatos Patch Moms Council of experts, who serve as an editorial board to guide family and children's coverage on the site. She wrote this preview to the documentary as a follow-up to her post about this issue, which ran on the site March 14 and asked,