Bullying Word List

BULLYING

Systematic harassment causing trauma

WATCH

1. Bully — Lee Hirsch, 2011 · Documentary · Five students’ experiences of bullying; the film that changed the national conversation.

2. Eighth Grade — Bo Burnham, 2018 · Film · Social exclusion and online bullying rendered with painful accuracy.

3. Carrie — Brian De Palma, 1976 · Film · The ultimate bullied outsider; what happens when cruelty is pushed to its limit.

4. Mean Girls — Mark Waters, 2004 · Film · Social hierarchy and relational bullying among teenage girls dissected sharply.

5. Welcome to the Dollhouse — Todd Solondz, 1995 · Film · Middle school cruelty without redemption; relentlessly honest.

6. My Bodyguard — Tony Bill, 1980 · Film · A boy navigating high school bullying and the unlikely alliance that forms.

7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Stephen Chbosky, 2012 · Film · Bullying, trauma, and the found family that makes survival possible.

8. Wonder — Stephen Chbosky, 2017 · Film · A child with a facial difference navigating the cruelty and surprising kindness of school.

9. Cyberbully — Charles Binamé, 2011 · Film · Online bullying and its devastating impact on a teenage girl.

10. Thirteen Reasons Why — Various, 2017– · Series · Bullying and suicide; controversial but culturally significant.

LISTEN

1. Bully Project Podcast — Various · Companion to the documentary; real stories and advocacy.

2. Hidden Brain: Social rejection — Shankar Vedantam · The science of social exclusion and why bullying hurts as much as physical pain.

3. The Moth: Outsider stories — Various · First-person accounts of being excluded, bullied, and finding belonging.

4. Delete This — Hank & Katherine Green · Online bullying and the cost of public life in the internet age.

5. Stomp Out Bullying Podcast — Various · Advocacy and survivor stories from the anti-bullying movement.

6. Therapy Chat — Laura Reagan · The long psychological shadow bullying casts into adult life.

7. Brave — Sara Bareilles, 2013 · Song · Finding voice after silencing; the unofficial anthem of bullying survivors.

8. Mean — Taylor Swift, 2011 · Song · Addressed directly to a bully; defiant and specific.

9. Beautiful — Christina Aguilera, 2002 · Song · Self-worth in the face of cruelty; a generation’s survival song.

10. This Is Me — Pasek & Paul, from The Greatest Showman · Defiance in the face of mockery and social exclusion.

READ

1. Nineteen Minutes — Jodi Picoult · A school shooting traced back to years of relentless bullying; empathy for all sides.

2. The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander — Barbara Coloroso · The definitive framework for understanding and stopping bullying.

3. Odd Girl Out — Rachel Simmons · Relational aggression and the hidden bullying culture among girls.

4. Queenie — Candice Carty-Williams · Racism, bullying, and microaggressions in adult life.

5. Wonder — R.J. Palacio · A child with a facial difference facing cruelty; the precept Choose Kind.

6. Speak — Laurie Halse Anderson · Sexual assault, silence, and the social ostracism that follows.

7. Thirteen Reasons Why — Jay Asher · Bullying and suicide; controversial but widely read.

8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Stephen Chbosky · Surviving bullying and trauma through books and friendship.

9. Please Stop Laughing at Me — Jodee Blanco · A memoir of chronic bullying from childhood through high school.

10. Sticks and Stones — Emily Bazelon · A journalist’s investigation into bullying in the digital age.