Operation Respect: Two Minutes to Stop Bullying

New York, N.Y. How long does it take for students to tell us what it feels like to be bullied—and the solutions that they’d propose to stop it from happening?

About two minutes.

Bullying, one form of which is depicted in this staged photograph,

is detrimental to students’ well-being and development.

Photo:  Diego Grez,  Instituto Regional Federico Errázuriz (IRFE).

Operation Respect, the organization dedicated to creating safe, compassionate environments for children and youth, created a powerful, evocative two-minute video, What Does It Feel Like to be Bullied? , to support schools' and communities' anti-bullying efforts.

Kids who have participated in the organization’s Don’t Laugh at Me curriculum shared their honest assessments of what it feels like to be bullied and how they would stop bullying.

“When kids get bullied, your heart crumbles down, like your heart is glass, and it just all breaks.”

“Why would you go to school if you knew you were getting picked on? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Stand up for someone. Be an ally. And go tell an adult. Or take the side of the target. Be an ‘upstander.’”

Perhaps most importantly, near the end of the video, a ten year old boy challenges us all to do better.  He says, "If I was an adult, I would try and make sure all kids grow up happily."

Watch. Share. Act.

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