Saturday, March 5, 2011

Precious, Jumper, You Again & ParaNorman: Bullying

Precious is a dramatic, but well-made movie. Jumper is a great adventure. You Again is a funny movie that revolves around the topic bullying and its consequences in an average, ordinary person. Finally, ParaNorman is simply awesome. I used these scenes, which show bullying in different situations and degrees. Bullying must be curbed from schools and talking about it is a great start.






Read the definition for Bullying below. Taken from http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Bullying.html


Bullying can be defined as ongoing verbal and/or physical harassment/abuse that occurs in community and/or school settings. Bullies use aggression or threat of it, to gain control over peers. They tend to target children who are weaker in physical or verbal ability than they. Non- assertive youngsters who will not defend themselves or seek assistance often become prey too. 


I. Read some facts about bullying in the USA and check which ones are true.

1. ( ) More than 1 in 3 middle and high school students say they don't feel safe at school, and generally, boys are more fearful in school than are girls.

2. ( ) 27% of middle school students and 31% of high school students said they "agree" or "strongly agree" that it is acceptable to hit or threaten someone who makes them angry.

3. ( ) More than 16% of U.S. school kids say that they have been bullied by another youngster during the current school term.

4. ( ) Bullying appears to occur most often in the 6th through 8th grades.

5. ( ) There appear to be no differences in bullying rates between rural, suburban, town, and urban areas.

6. ( ) Students in grades 6-10 reported being bullied through belittling one's looks or speech, being the subject of rumors, being hit, slapped or pushed, being the subject of sexual comments or gestures, being belittled about their religion or race,

7. ( ) A great deal of absenteeism is believed to be due to avoidance of bullying.

8. ( ) 60% of former bullies have at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24.


Answer key: All are true.


II. Check the items that are considered bullies.

- Lacks empathy and concern for others

- Demonstrates a strong need to dominate and subdue others

- Hot tempered, quickly becomes enraged

- Teases others in a hurtful manner

- Picks on others who are weaker; not done in self defense

- Intimidates others through threats or reputation

- Commits acts of physical aggression

 - Defiant, oppositional, and aggressive towards adults


III. Watch the segment from the movie Precious and answer the questions below:




1. Describe the scene.

2. Which weaknesses were pointed out by the bully?

3. How did the bullied react?

4. Who was right? Justify your answers.

5. What actually happened? Check the items in Exercise II that took place in the observed scene.

6. What should the consequences be for the people involved in the scene?

IV. Now watch the segment from the movie Jumper and answer the questions that follow.



1. Describe the scene.

2. Which weaknesses were pointed out by the bully?

3. How did the bullied react?

4. Who was right? Justify your answers.

5. What actually happened? Check the items in Exercise II that took place in the observed scene.

6. What should the consequences be for the people involved in the scene?


V. Watch the segment from the movie You Again and answer the questions.




1. Describe the scene.

2. What kind of aggression did the main character receive.

3. What would you do if you were in her shoes?

4. What kind of trauma do you think she will have to deal with in the future?

5. Should there be any kind of punishment in this case? Why (not)?

6. Do you think this is bullying or just an innocent practical joke? Why?


VI. Watch the segment from the movie ParaNorman and discuss the questions:





1. Describe the scene.

2. What kind of aggression did the main characters receive?

3. What would you do if you were in their shoes?

4. What kind of trauma do you think they will have to deal with in the future?

5. Should there be any kind of punishment in this case? Why (not)?

6. Do you think this is bullying or just an innocent practical joke? Why?

7. How do the bullied characters react to bullying?


Here is a site which is a great resource called BestOnlineColleges.com with wonderful scenes and movies you can use to illustrate the topic BULLYING and others as well.

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - PARA NORMAN

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - JUMPER

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - PRECIOUS

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - YOU AGAIN

6 comments:

  1. Very good subject, I'll use this one with my students! Thank you for your wonderful work!!

    Cris

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks. My students had a lot to share about the topic. I hope yours enjoy it too. See you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. First video:
    1- A group of girls are in the school and one of them star to say harmful things to a fat girl.
    2- The fatness.
    3- The bullied hit the bully.
    4- The bullied was right because the other girl has no right to say bad things about her.
    5- The things that happened were: in the first place, lacks empathy and concern for others, and secondly, teases others in a hurtful manner.
    6- The consequences should be for the bullied to recognize that physical violence is wrong, and for the bully that pshycological violence can hurt a lot.
    Second video:
    1- There is a boy outside the school who gives an important present to a girl, suddenly a bully(maybe the girls boyfriend) appears and throws away the present which falls on to a frozen river. The bullied boy goes to look for it and the ice brokes so he dies.
    2- Physical weakness because he seems to be a thin and short boy.
    3- The bullied tries to seem relax and brave.
    4- The bullied was right because he stays calm and doesnt use violence.
    5- Lacks empathy and concern for others, hot tempered, quickly becomes enraged, demonstrates a strong need to dominate and subdue others.
    6- The consequences shoul be for the bully to recognize his mistakes.
    Third video:
    1-The girl is bullied at high school and her brother tell her that she wasn't a loser, and that she had to see the incredible person she wants. After high school she goes to university and succeds there, and tell to other people abou her experience in a motivational speech
    2- Lacks empathy and concern for others
    - Teases others in a hurtful manner
    - Intimidates others through threats or reputation
    3- I would never let any one treat me that way, I would make friends by being funny.
    4- No one, because she has a stronger personality now and became more confident
    5- Yes, because it is not right to treat anybody that way, they hurt her and they make her feel less.

    Sofi Radrizzani, Emiliano Gómez

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  4. Great job, guys, I agree with your answers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1-In the scene there is a group students in a class, going to the blackboard and one of them tells to other that she was fat
    2-That the girl was fat
    3- after the fat girl hit her she tried to hit back
    4- in some way no one was right because violence is not the answer but in any case we prefer to do that to with bully that don't do anything
    5- Teases others in a hurtful manner
    -lacks empathy and concern for others
    6- maybe the bully will not bully her again

    1-In the scene a boy gives a present to a girl and a bully takes the present the girls says him to give it back but he throw the present to the frozen river, then the boy tries to retrieve it and the ice breaks
    2- he obviously pointed that he was stronger
    3- He takes the present and he throw it to the frozen river
    4-the girl because she faced the bully
    5
    - Intimidates others through threats or reputation
    - Commits acts of physical aggression
    - Demonstrates a strong need to dominate and subdue others

    1-In the scene the main character
    2-the scene the main character has many of the things that was happening to her school and how she managed to change
    3- That's a really hard question you can't know what you could do until you be there
    4-Maybe she is still scared of being called a loser
    5-Maybe not a punishment but someone has to do something at least talk to the bullies
    6- This is bullying because they do it always and its not funny to her, so it can´t be an “innocent practical joke”
    Felipe Ishimine Gaston Figueroa

    ReplyDelete