Wurzweiler Hosts Advance Screening of 鈥淏ullycam鈥
With reports of young suicides linked to bullying on the rise and recent New York legislation obligating schools to investigate cyberbullying, 黑料社 All鈥檚 hosted an advance screening of a feature film from the perspective of a bullied high school student, on July 9.
Nearly 100 people from across the New York area came together on the Wilf Campus to see the film, which was presented in collaboration with the Museum of Tolerance New York. 鈥淏ullycam鈥is a fictional narrative which purports to be the camcorder diary of Kelly Wilson, a teenager seeking to expose the bullies who torment her by capturing their abuse on video with the help of her best friend. The film is the feature debut of New York City filmmakers Brian Sizensky, Mike Marshall and Vera Hadzi, and has won awards at the Metropolitan Film Festival, NYC Independent Film Festival and the Buffalo/Niagra Film Festival. It has not yet been released to theaters.
鈥淏ullying is a timely issue for social workers and all New Yorkers, with numerous incidents occurring right here and around the world,鈥 said Wurzweiler Dean Carmen Ortiz-Hendricks. 鈥溾楤ullycam鈥sheds light on the realities of high school bullying in a way no film has ever done before, from the vantage point of the victim. The movie has tremendous educational value and the power to motivate all of us to fight for more humane and welcoming environments in our children鈥檚 schools.鈥
The screening was prefaced by remarks from bullying expert Dr. Rona Novick, director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Division of Doctoral Studies at YU鈥檚 and a senior fellow at 驰鲍鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;, as well as a creator of the . Novick spoke about her research in the field and the way bullying has evolved in recent decades to encompass a wider age range and more physical and emotional torment in girls and boys, as well as new forms of abuse, such as cyberbullying.
鈥淐ell phones, the internet and various handheld devices give students endless access to acts of cruelty which can not only be perpetrated at a distance with enormous speed and breadth, but are lasting and enduring and haunt their victims in ways old fashioned taunts just couldn鈥檛 do,鈥 said Novick. She added that many bystanders who observe bullying underestimate their own importance or ability to impact the situation. 鈥淲e are all witnesses to the social discourse around us and how we respond, or fail to respond, shapes that environment.鈥
The screening was followed by an emotional question-and-answer session with the film鈥檚 director, writers and cast members, who touched on 鈥淏ullycam鈥檚鈥 inspiration and style as well as their hopes for the project, and shared a few things they had learned about bullying in making the film.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard people say you have to get beat up, that鈥檚 what bullying is,鈥 said Sizensky. 鈥淚 think a lot of kids are sending text messages and Facebook comments and don鈥檛 realize that they have long term effects. With the internet and technology as weapons, emotional bullying can be just as severe as physical bullying and virtually unstoppable.鈥
Audience members also shared their own painful tales of hurt and tragedy, and wondered together how to fight the phenomenon in schools.
鈥淚 have known about the issue of bullying for awhile, especially after Wurzweiler presented its bullying program for Common Day this spring, but I was unaware of its dangerous and deadly consequences,鈥 said Andrea Chapman, a Wurzweiler student. 鈥淲atching 鈥楤ullycam鈥has opened up a new world to me and inspired me to take an active role in bullying prevention and awareness as I prepare for my upcoming field placement in a public school.鈥
