The film itself is absolutely hilarious, and it almost takes us away from the fact that we are observing some integral aspects of journalism that are still prevalent today.

The main issue we find is the idea that a woman cannot be an anchor. Now, by today’s standards, that is ridiculous; there are plenty of female news anchors.

However, today, instead of a news station being open to the idea of having an anchor who is female, or of any member from a different demographic than a white male, the stations will often require they only look for one of these specific demographics.

Today it can be a bit daunting for a white male to find a set job as a TV news broadcast anchor. However, minorities and females seem to be filling in empty positions. At this rate, it seems that soon there will be some kind of set percentage of each demographic that a news station should be looking for.

From that point, there will be African-American men competing against other African-American men, women competing against women and white men competing against white men. I can’t be the only one who sees a counterproductive trend here.

While on the surface, it provides job opportunities for a widespread set of demographics, but by starting to pit ethnicities against each other, and not comparing them without a bias against all other demographics, then it could set up for more problematic prejudices.

The fact of the matter is that there are obviously areas that are more predominant in one ethnicity than others. But what happens if, and this is an extreme situation but no doubt one that could develop over time, there is a time slot that for an African-American news team, a female news team, etc? The demographics will be split up based on the news even more.

Then we breach two separate ethical issues: the first being society is taking a step back and it becomes a puzzle of cultures that fit in where influential outlets like the media seem to promote instead of the melting pot that we’ve always been taught about in our American history classes; and the second is that our news would be biased towards one demographic and would ultimately not be telling whole stories, or even all the important stories – if news is supposed to be fair and diverse, then a story about Tom Cruise should be just as important as a story about Denzel Washington, Jackie Chan, or Jennifer Aniston. But if the news starts to break apart into separate demographics, then this becomes a thing in the past.

Now, my hypothetical situations are just that: hypothetical. However, I still feel that our generation has almost been a capstone for diversity – we are more liberal on topics of ethnicity and gender than the older generations and could have the ability to erase racism and sexism to nothing more than the eye-rolling, satirical jokes that EVERYONE tells or at least hears.

I say, “May the best journalist win.”

http://youtu.be/aLo2eGHuCzk

I was talking with one of my friends about sports reporters the other day. He was telling me how he doesn’t care for female sports reporters. I asked him if it was because purely because she was a female or if she seemed like she didn’t actually know what she was talking about. His response got me to start thinking about gender diversity in sports reporting.

He told me that it wasn’t necessarily that she didn’t know what she was talking about, but rather just having a feminine presence for a sport made it seem like she wasn’t as knowledgeable as she probably is.

It got me to start thinking back to my story package about men’s and women’s basketball. What is the psychological reasoning behind the general preference for a male presence in sports, whether it’s reporting or the competition itself?

My thoughts dance around the idea that sport and competition is a typically masculine aspect of life and society. So, it seems that people normally associate sport with man.

However, with the increase of female presence in sports the past 30 years, from basketball to the anchor desk, there are plenty of people who are enjoying the different aspects the diversity brings. A prime example is how people believe women’s basketball to be an entirely different sport than men’s. Although, the rules and objectives are almost identical, the way the game is played is totally different. But can the same be said for journalism and reporting?

Well, it can be said that each reporter has their own style of reporting, and I suppose, just like basketball, a reporter can tell the story any way they would like, as long as it gives them the final result of a complete message sent to the viewers; all within the rules and ethical boundaries, of course. So then the question that beckons: Is it just preference, or is society still used to having a dominant male presence in sports and sports reporting so that there is still hesitation in some cases to truly accept a good female reporter or athlete?

In a small room on a quiet Wednesday afternoon, a group of senior citizens, after getting in their “hellos” and chit chat, settle around a table.

Behind them sits a board detailing the day’s topics of discussion: ex-presidents, a recent string of tornados, stand your ground laws. If it’s in the news, it’s fair game

The current events discussion is part of East Lansing’s Hannah Community Center’s Prime Time Senior Program. The forum provides an opportunity for those 55 and over, both members and non-members of the program, to come together and discuss current issues important to them.

“Seniors can be a little isolated since they are not working and don’t hear the water cooler talk,” said Marilyn Spalding, who is a discussion leader and helped start the group 20 years ago. “This group gives us a chance to discuss and argue about current events and be less isolated.”

The session starts out lightly with a few members sharing jokes and giving updates on things such as surgeries and visits out of town.  The attention then turns to the board where, before the meeting, participants wrote down topics they wished to discuss.

“It’s nice to hear other information because I don’t read all the papers,” said Lou Anselmo, who has been attending the group for 15 years. She also enjoys the fact that many members of the group are former teachers, professors and university faculty who are very informed about politics and current events.

Anyone who wishes to may share an opinion or additional facts on the topic may do so, but must raise their hand and wait for their turn. Overall, discussions remain cordial and opposite opinions are respected. That doesn’t mean there isn’t disagreement.

The issue of veterans’ medical benefits makes the discussion particularly heated. One woman starts out the discussion that veterans should get benefits to treat any illness that may be related to combat, even psychological conditions.  The next participant disagrees, believing benefits should only be given for illnesses proven to directly relate to combat so as not to take unnecessary funds from the government. He cited the point of Agent Orange, the chemical used heavily during the Vietnam War, and how it may cause cancer, but there is no way of proving it is the direct cause of a veteran’s illness.

The subject is a popular one, as many in the room are either veterans or wives of veterans. Almost everyone shares an opinion and the subject takes up nearly a half hour of the time. However, even with a subject as volatile as government funding, an air of civility remains in the room. Those who can’t leave their disgust at the door usually don’t come back, said group member Howard Davis.

Davis noted that the group gives them a chance to discuss issues that may be ignored by the younger generation, such as the possible elimination of land line phones.

“We’re a bunch of old fogies,” said Davis. “We don’t have computers and don’t get a lot of different news.”

The current events discussion group meets every Wednesday at 1 in room 140 of the Hannah Community Center. The cost is $1 for members and $2 for non-members. For more information call 517-337-1113 or visit www.cityofeastlansing.com/PrimeTIme.

Spartan Online Newsroom

Blacks and Hispanics were targeted for risky mortgage loans that brought on the 2008 financial crisis, experts said, and resulted in the wealth gap between whites and minorities increasing to a record high.

The racial wealth gap is the largest since the government began collecting the data more than 25 years ago,according to a report by the Pew Research Center released last year.

From 2005 to 2009, the median wealth of black households decreased from $12,124 to $5,677, and Hispanic households’ median wealth from $18,359 to $6,325.

The white-to-black median wealth ratio was 12-to-1 in 1984, but in 2009 it had risen to 19-to-1. White-to-Hispanic wealth ratios increased 8-to-1 to 15-to-1 in the same period.

Most blacks and Hispanics held the bulk of their wealth in their homes, but they were also the most likely victims of subprime mortgages given to low income people, said Anand Subramanian, program manager at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development in Oakland, Calif.

“Lenders engaged in ‘reverse redlining,’ where they targeted families of color and gave worse quality loans than they could’ve actually qualified for,” he said.

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to live in low income areas, said Trina Shanks, associate professor in the school of social work at the University of Michigan. When those low income people failed to pay off their mortgages, the results sent shockwaves through the financial sector, which was the underlying cause of the recession.

While the economy is slowly recovering from the recession, the gap between whites and minorities may not because housing is still slumping, said Benita Melton, a program officer with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in Flint.

Experts studying the racial wealth gap have turned their attention to helping minorities build up their financial assets. Nearly a quarter of black and Hispanic families had no assets besides a vehicle, according to the Pew report. Asset building is critical to minorities who have long endured the wealth gap, which was only exacerbated by the recession, Melton said.

“We have a legacy of inequity in the United States that began decades ago,” she said. “We saw it in housing, we see it in education, we see it in labor markets. These inequities have compounded over generations … and we see the pattern we have today. This pattern has existed way before the recession.”

Shanks goes as far back as the 1862 Homestead Act to the beginning of asset disparity in the United States. Most land given away by the government went to immigrants, and Shanks said just five percent of blacks were awarded land. The timing of the bill, near the 1863 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, would’ve been a good opportunity for blacks to acquire land and wealth, she said.

A provision of the 1944 G.I. Bill gave out zero interest loans to families, but written guidelines from the Federal Housing Administration prohibited black families from receiving these loans, Subramanian said. And while another portion of the G.I. Bill allowed black veterans to attend college easier with financial support, many colleges would not admit black students, Shanks said, resulting in a smaller number of schools they could attend.

With discriminatory practices in place, minorities have had difficulties building up wealth and passing it on to the next generation, a key factor in blacks and Hispanics moving up the economic ladder, experts say.

Subramanian’s Insight Center for Community Economic Development focuses one of its initiatives on closingtheracialwealthgap. In 2009 the center released a report detailing legacy factors for the wealth gap and identifies several areas where policies could help close the gap.

One such area is to encouraging blacks and Hispanics to save more, and to increase access to savings accounts. A 2009 report by Pew’s EconomicMobilityProject explored the importance of savings for low income people, specifically how savings can prevent against downward economic mobility, Melton said.

“Savings matter, and they matter more for lower income people who are trying to move up the ladder,” she said.

Subramanian said many low income areas don’t have access to banks, and instead rely on payday lenders, where people can lose 40 percent of their paychecks by taking advance loans.

Another area Melton and Shanks work on is fostering the development of children’s savings accounts for college. Shanks is a key investigator for the Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment Impact Assessment, which studies how savings accounts affect a child’s saving for education.

In Michigan, Shanks said the initiative is working with foundations that donate money to start 529 Plans for Head Start children. 529 Plans are savings accounts that can only be used for investments into education, and Head Start is a pre-Kindergarten education program for low income children.

The plans were put in place in 2004, and while that isn’t enough time for an accurate assessment on their impact, Shanks is confident they can make a difference.

“By offering asset-building accounts to children when they’re young, they have time to compound interest and come up with more resources, and it can provide the idea that both their parents and their government care about their futures,” she said.

Shanks said children’s savings account are in place in local governments across the country and the world, notably in San Francisco with the KtoC (KindergartentoCollege) Program. Melton said the program is part of public-private partnership between the city and local organizations. The city of San Francisco opens an account for every child born there, while Citibank holds the account and local nonprofits raise money for those accounts, she said.

While there are no programs similar in Michigan, Melton said the San Francisco model is one such example of an entire community, including the local government, making an investment into its future.

Shanks said if people want to tackle the racial wealth gap, efforts need to be made early in life, with children’s savings accounts one example.

“The influence of wealth starts really early. As early as two or three, you can see differences in vocabulary, differences in likelihood of getting into good preschool education,” she said. “So if you want to influence the next generation, to reduce the wealth gap, and not just do … compensatory programs after the problems have already occurred. So if we’re serious about reducing the wealth gap … you need to start these sorts of things early.”

I’ve learned as much about diversity this semester than I have in the previous four years at MSU.  Some of the talks and guest lecturers helped, yes, but for the most part it was actually going out and covering stories that opened my eyes.

I was really glad that I chose to cover religious diversity for a few reasons.  First, there are surprisingly a lot of active religious groups here at MSU.  As the pastor from St. John’s put it, public universities have this reputation of Godlessness, and that’s just not the case across the board.  He is absolutely right.  I learned and got to meet a lot of very pious, diligently religious students, student leaders and religious personalities.

I also learned a very important lesson about students at this university in relation to diversity.  Spartans everywhere, no matter where they come from, generally are looking for the same things out of life.

In my efforts this semester, I talked to students from Roman Catholic, Christian Orthodox, Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jewish, and Muslim backgrounds.

The fact that they were all actively participating in their own respective religious student groups showed that these students were all at a decent level of devoutness.  These were all kids like me though, trying to balance schoolwork and religion and social lives.

Most of these students, from all backgrounds, were very helpful to me when they found out that I was covering them as a story, and were not only willing but also excited to share a bit of themselves and their culture with me.

These students were no different than any other, yet society places such a strong emphasis is placed on religious differences.  A person who is Jewish, for example, might identify the quality that defines him or her most as his or her Jewish identity.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and in fact I believe having a distinct religious identity is a good thing.  But being such a defining factor often leads people to generalize or judge certain religious groups in a negative way, and harp on the differences in beliefs rather than seek the similarities in all of us.

It is our differences that make us unique, that make us who we are.  We learned from Ron Burgundy, the Anchorman, that diversity is not an old wooden ship.  It is also something that can have negative implications for those who don’t embrace it as it should be embraced –that is to say that different does not necessarily mean worse, or opposite.

We are all diverse in our own way.  However, there are a lot of areas in which the students I talked to were similar.  I was glad I had the opportunity this semester to open my eyes to it a little bit more.

Spartan Online Newsroom

Video Feature: MSU Student Respond to Hit Musical “Memphis”

HOCKADOO!

“Memphis” sets the Wharton Center of East Lansing into a whirlwind of rock ‘n’ roll. Set in 1950’s Memphis, Tenn., the story of an interracial love affair is told with high energy, classic tunes, and a cast of incredibly talented singers.

The story follows Huey Calhoun, a white man with a deep passion for black music. The show opens at Delray’s, an underground African American rock ‘n’ roll club. As Huey is almost immediately laughed out of the club, he professes his love for soulful music and promises Felicia, Delray’s vocally talented sister, that he will get her voice heard on the radio.

As Huey’s taste in music continues to get him in trouble (he gets fired from a job at a grocery store for playing “colored” music, even though he is able to sell 29 records) he finds his niche while applying for jobs at local white radio stations.

He finally makes it past the threshold after radio owner, Mr. Simmons, says he’ll show him what a ‘real’ DJ looks like. Huey hijacks the airwaves, and plays another African-American rock song (“Everybody Wants to be Black on Saturday Night”). Mr. Simmons is about to have Huey thrown out, but then dozens of teenagers start calling in demanding more of Huey and his music. Mr. Simmons agrees to give him a two-week trial, and if he’s successful he’ll get hired full time.

After a series of touch-and-go successes, Huey becomes a hired DJ. His wild personality is entrancing, and the variety of ethnic music on his playlists make the radio station the number one on the Memphis charts his first week.

Felicia finally saves enough money to make an album of her music, so she takes the only record over to Huey’s home to surprise him. While there, Huey and Felicia’s relationship begins to establish as they hint at their affection for each other.

The scene just becomes intimate when Huey’s conservative, white mother comes home. After she professes her disapproval of their “hangin’ about,” Huey’s mother knocks Felicia’s record out of his hands and it breaks into tiny pieces. This moment sends Felicia into tears as Huey’s opportunity to play her music on air is thwarted, and we encounter the first confrontation based on the interracial relationship between Huey and Felicia.

Huey manages to convince Felicia to come down to his radio station, and surprises her with a band and back-up singers to play for her live. Despite her reservations, Felicia sings and becomes an instant sensation.  Huey’s radio popularity soars as white teens and black teens begin to accept each other.

Two years fly by and on the way to a party at Delray’s, Huey proposes to Felicia. She declines, fearing the prejudice of the south. As the two share a kiss, a group of spying white men enter the scene with disapproving looks and promising harm. They hold Huey down as they beat Felicia with a bat, leaving her battered and their relationship compromised at the end of Act I.

Time has passed, and Huey is about to open his new TV show, a Rock and Roll variety show featuring all African American dancers. Felicia’s popularity has grown as her relationship with Huey has blossomed as well.

An agency from New York has discovered her, and her hopes for a strong, public relationship has potential. She tells Huey that if they went to New York they wouldn’t have to sneak around all the time, but Huey insists that they are happy in Memphis. After much controversy, Huey is also offered an opportunity to have a nationally televised show in New York, but he declines the offer with sheer disgust after the agency tells him he will not be allowed to have anyone of color involved in his show.

Felicia explains that her dream is being realized, and that she plans to go to New York without him. In a desperate attempt to keep her, he kisses her on air during his television show admitting aloud that he loves her. Huey is immediately fired as Delray coerces Felicia away in an attempt to save her career. Huey flees the station, alone with a broken heart and without a career.

Four years later, Huey is working as a radio DJ. He no longer has the number one spot on the Memphis charts, and in fact works at a station with exactly one listener. Shockingly, Felicia walks into the station as she begins the first performance of her national tour in the city she first began.

She explains to Huey that she is engaged, but she cannot imagine performing in Memphis without Huey by her side. Shamed at the thought of being a “has been,” he refuses, and Felicia leaves the studio defeated.

She begins her performance, and halfway through the first song Huey walks on stage. As a pair they finish the set with the approval of a roaring crowd. Huey beams alongside Felicia, the place where he longed to be the moment he walked into Delray’s several years before. Taking a bow and concluding the show, he proclaims, “The name is Huey Calhoun. Goodnight and HOCKADOO!”

The tragic tale of interracial love is just as powerful as the integration of African American talent in a severely racist 1950’s south. With an outrageous performance by a dedicated cast, beautiful music composed with heart and soul, and a supportive audience, “Memphis” has left East Lansing rockin’ and rollin’.

Spartan Online Newsroom

About 12 years ago, R Cole Bouck attended a conference that gave him an idea: launching an organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered criminal justice professionals to educate fellow workers, and the community, on important issues the LGBT community faces. In 2010, after much planning, MI-Goal was born.

Mi-Goal is a statewide organization that aims to improve the working conditions of LGBT criminal justice professionals, work with agencies to educate about LGBT issues and serve as a resource to the community.

“Gay people are one of the last remaining minorities that it is still OK to not like, to harass,” said Bouck, who has worked for the Michigan Department of Corrections for 26 years.

He added that criminal justice fields are very traditional, conservative fields and it is not always easy for an individual to be open about their sexual orientation.

Bouck has personal experience with the tough realities of being open to co-workers. He was “outed” early in his career and experienced harassment on the job. It became a liberating experience and Bouck decided to use it however he could to better the lives of other LGBT individuals in his professional community.

Erin Linn, MI-Goal’s treasure and a fellow founding member, believes acceptance of LGBT professionals is essential for the health of the criminal justice community.

“If a police officer can’t be honest with their co-workers about their personal life due to fear of repercussions, then they aren’t working to their fullest potential,” she said. “The organization as a whole suffers.”

Linn, who works as a road patrol officer for the Meridian Township Police Department, has been out to her co-workers since her days in the police academy and believes her honesty is part of the reason they are so accepting of her. However, while Linn has never experienced direct discrimination from those of the same rank, she says she has experienced insensitivity from superiors.

“We could get passed over for special assignments or promotions without knowing the real reason, if it’s our sexual orientation,” she said. Outright harassment is rare, but still happens, she added.

MI-Goal helps to educate and provide diversity training, which will hopefully promote acceptance, Linn said. It is also provides necessary support, mentoring and social connections to LGBT individuals in criminal justice professions.

“The law enforcement profession is very close knit for a multitude of reasons,” she said.  “It is very valuable to have friends you can socialize with that understand the work you do.”

For Penny Fischer, having the support of friends is in her community is a great membership benefit of MI-Goal. Fischer, who works as an inspector for the Michigan State University Police Department, enjoys having fellow LGBT individuals to discuss issues they face in the profession. She also likes that MI-Goal educates agencies and the community in a positive way.

To help promote acceptance within the criminal justice community, MI-Goal works with various agencies to address and improve various LGBT issues in the workplace. For example, they are currently working with the Ingham County Sherriff’s Department to educate workers about LGBT issues and tolerance.

“We need to, as professionals, be able to work with many different groups of people,” said Bouck.

Bouck is proud of the work MI-Goal has done so far, and hopes to continue to be a positive part of the community.

“My objective for MI Goal is that we continue to be recognized as a legitimate law enforcement criminal justice organization advocating or LGBT and allied professionals, increasing membership and building positive relationships with agencies,” he said.

MI-Goal is open to LGBT individuals and allies in criminal justice and public safety fields and individuals retired from those fields. Those who are not in those fields but would like to support the organization have an opportunity to become a “Friend of MI-Goal.” For more information on MI-Goal and membership, visit www.mi-goal.com.

Michigan’s unemployment rate continued its recent downward trend in February, hitting the milestone mark of 8.8 percent — the first time the economically downtrodden state has seen a number below 9 percent since September 2008.

Rick Waclawek, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, said this is a good sign for Michigan, but cautioned against putting too much stock into unemployment rate numbers. He said the rate can give mixed signals.

“One thing we’ve noticed, too, over the period of time … is the unemployed level has dropped off,” he said. “And some of that’s due to people leaving the state of Michigan, some of that’s due to retirement, people who have left the workforce and have no intention of returning, some of that’s due to people going to colleges and universities and basically getting better educations so that they can apply for the jobs that are in demand when they have skills that probably are no longer (in demand) or are under-skilled for the jobs they have.”

Unemployment rate is a measure of both the number of people employed and those looking for jobs. The report, released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, also pointed out that total employment rose by 22,000 for the month while unemployment dropped by 8,000, making for a growth of 14,000 in the total workforce. Waclawek called the growth  in actual employment a very good sign, but said the number of unemployed people going down isn’t as cut-and-dry good as it might seem.

“They could be dropping off because they’re finding jobs, but they also could be dropping off because they’re discouraged,” he said. “And there’s probably some of both in that number. So, that also contributes to the rate dropping when that number goes down as well. So, you’ve got, I guess, a good number in the employed going up and you have a somewhat suspicious number in the unemployed going down.”

There are some scenarios where the unemployment rate going up can be a good thing, including college graduates’ initial entrance into the job market and increased job opportunities.

“If people who are sitting on the sidelines today want to go back to work because they see that there are a lot of opportunities, that the job market is catching fire so to speak, you’ll see a lot of those people come back into the labor force looking for jobs and that could drive the rate up for a period of time as they add to the number of unemployed, thus changing the rate,” Waclawek said.

Two of Michigan’s building block job sectors, manufacturing and professional and business services, have seen the highest rates of improvement. Manufacturing jobs are up 5.7 percent from February 2011 and professional and business service jobs are up 5.2 percent. Manufacturing jobs have a multiplier effect that helps grow the surrounding economy, creating eight jobs throughout other job sectors for every one manufacturing job, making the recent auto industry growth all the more important.

Other job sectors haven’t fared so well, seeing rates change for the worse from a year earlier. Somewhat surprisingly, considering technology seems to be constantly evolving, the information industry has seen the steepest drop, down 2 percent from February 2011. With the recent announcement that Twitter will be opening an office in Detroit, information jobs could see a slight boost in Michigan during the coming months. Jobs in government and construction have also taken a hit, both seeing a 1.2 percent decline. Waclawek said that none of the suffering job sectors have a multiplier effect like manufacturing, but that entrepreneurialism will likely be key to future economic growth.

“To me, the entrepreneurial efforts and the diversification of the economy are probably some of the healthiest things we could do,” he said. “As I said, manufacturing tends to be cyclical and I think to support any economy it’s nice to have other industries that can pick up the slack at times, if you would. It really helps when we have a strong entrepreneurial environment and that’s why you’re seeing a lot of the universities banding together to promote various entrepreneurial efforts.”

But for Michigan’s economy to move forward in the future, more than anything, Waclawek believes that education must remain at the center of the workforce.

“To me, education, having a strong workforce, a strong, well-educated workforce, I think is the best long term thing … that we can do for the state of Michigan,” he said.

Bully, a documentary film, follows the life of three students who are bullied on a daily basis in school and families of two students who were bullied to the point of taking their own lives. The film follows them during the 2009-2010 school year while they faced the daily challenges bullying presents.

This movie is heart breaking. The students whose stories are shown – Alex, Kelby, and Ja’Meya – are some of the strongest, bravest people. Not only do they have to face the other students on a daily basis, but they have invited cameras to document their struggles.

As you’re watching Bully, you don’t want to believe this is what is actually happening in schools today. Unfortunately, this is becoming reality and more children are having to deal with the taunting cruelty every day.

School should be a safe place for learning and growing, not a place to fear. Yet more than 13 million students are bullied each year. And with booming technology, it’s only getting worse. Cyber-bullying adds another medium that kids didn’t have to deal with just 10 years ago. Texting, emails and Facebook make it easier to be mean to a computer screen than to someone’s face.

This movie is a wake-up call. It brings to light the reality of schools these days, and is a must-see for parents, students and teachers. Seeing first-hand the torment these kids face will hopefully cause other students, who may be prone to bullying, to stop and think before they act next time. Finally, these students have a voice, and people are becoming aware of the epidemic that is bullying.

The main controversy surrounding this movie when it was first released in limited cities was the R rating it received. Does it deserve an R? In the traditional sense, yes. There is a lot of foul language and violence. But that is reality. This is not a scripted movie; this is real life and what these children are going through.

This movie needs to be available for everyone to watch and learn from, and with an R rating, that will not happen. Thankfully, they have sense to give it a PG-13 rating so it can be shown in schools, and kids can go see it without having to have a parent present.

This movie needs to be seen. Students need to realize that this is happening, and they need to take a stand, and help the kid who seems out of place.

You can find more about this movie here: http://thebullyproject.com/