'Bully' Documentary Currently Rated R: Should It Be Changed to PG-13?

Okay, step by step. Your violent approach seemed to indicate that you believed that bullying equated violence, as your solution was violence. Each action warrants an equal and opposite reaction, if we take Newton's Third Law and apply it to society.

Persistent unwelcome behaviour? My example is a snippet of what bullying is. I agree, saying something derogatory once is nasty, but not bullying. What I implied is that this was part of a larger picture, and I thought that was apparent. Maybe I should make myself clearer in these debates.

Second is not my quote, it's another website. The bit I wanted to emphasise was "concious, wilful, deliberate", adding to what I had previously stated, that it is actually a decision.

I don't see what being a "propaganda" site, as you are saying it is good, has against it. Propaganda is just something that advertises or promotes something. It's promoting the cause to stop bullying by raising awareness. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

I was just saying that, whatever your reason for not posting online, it only precludes you from being a cyber-bully; you can be a bully without using online mediums.

I wasn't saying that you were TRYING to charm me, just that I often get charmed by eloquence. Your opinion is yours, and I have no business telling you how to raise your kids; I just wanted to give you a thought on the possibilities. And I wouldn't know if you really were charming. You just seem articulate and, at that moment, charming.

If my sister told me I had a a nasty zit on my face, that would *not* be bullying. It might be tactless, but not bullying. Even in school, friends would usually point out if lipstick was out of line, if hair in armpits was showing, if it "was snowing down south" or even more embarassing bodily functions were visibily. Girls would do this face to face with other girls. If they broadcast it to the auditorium, THAT would be bullying. If someone says "Man, your -face- is nasty" that is bullying.

But unless zits have somehow become magical and beautiful, it's not -automatic- bullying to call a zit nasty. In Insurrection, are they bullying Worf, or *teasing* Worf, about his gorch?
My mom points out every time I bite my hair (its an OCD habit) which drives me nuts, and from my POV is even "unwelcome" due to the anxiety of OCD behaviors. But my mom isn't "bullying" me. I did have a teacher who implied that I would be a less valuable member of society if I kept biting my hair, and that felt like bullying - but she might have just meant that bad habits can interfere with your prospects in job interviews and I was internalizing the conversation differently. (Which wouldn't be bullying, but good advice).

Consider two instances:

In one, a girl tells me I need to cover my pants with my coat. She used a phrase to be delicate, but was meaning that my period had come earlier than I expected, and it showed. This was not bullying.

In instance two, a bunch of girls in the school lockeroom pick on me for my choice of undergarments and because its my time of the month, with snide comments and pointing. This *is* bullying.

Consider two other instances:

Two people are sitting down for lunch, discussing their thoughts on politics. One is polyamorous and bi, one is strait. Despite that they disagree on deep issues such as relationships, whether homosexuality is a sin (or whether even "sin" exists), how charity should work, and the meaning of life, both are getting along. The disagreements and discussions seek to further understanding towards truth, not to devalue the other person as a human being. The two may offend each other now and again, and may freely seek to change each others minds - but they both know that they are friends and their humanity is not lessened by holding a different opinion. They also both know that both opinions cannot be right, and so that discussion and difference are nescessary parts of life. This is not bullying.

Two people meet in a hall. "Intolerant bigot!" one screams. "Sodomite!" the other screams. Both flip their heads in a huff and move on, fully convinced that the other is a lesser being. This leads to an atmosphere of bullying, on both sides.

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In fact, I was bullied in highschool in part because I had opinions that were different from the norm, and voiced them. As I was 'advocating' positions (That it was good to follow rules, all right to have standards, that as christians it was good to obey God and not just be a christian in name only, that it was good for our futures to get good grades in school, etc), some students thought this was equivalent to "forcing" my opinions on them. They were afraid of my opinions affecting the status quo, and believed this freely justified tearing me down and stopping me from gaining any position where my anyone might actually pay attention or listen to my opinions. They attempted force where popularity and nudging didn't work. The thing about ideas though, is the more you supress them, the more they get noticed!!

Ironically, many anti-bullying campaigns seek the same thing - to shut up diverse opinions. It is the tearing someone down because of their different opinion, or their 'being different', which is bullying. It is *not* the difference of opinion itself which is wrong.