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A girl confides to her mother that her best friend is treating her badly, and together they figure out what to do about it. Includes a note to parents and teachers, as well as related resources.

Kids Matter: Inside the Minds of Tweens and Teens is a short film series dealing with important topics that middle school and high school students currently face today. We explore contemporary socially relevant issues such as bullying, mental health, school violence, and peer pressure in order to spark discussion inside and outside of the classroom. Revealing Media Group is a production company that collaborates with the youth of today and gives their authentic voices a chance to be heard. A group of kids question who they are. The film follows a transgender boy who deals with cyber bullying, as straight, gay, non-binary and trans kids explore their gender and pronouns, discovering the true value of friendship and support.

Daniel Abel is surprised when, instead of being punished for \"pantsing\" another eighth-grader, he is invited to become an ambassador of Mountview High at the school's upcoming open house. What he doesn't realize is that he is part of a social experiment on bullying being conducted by the local university. He is a little nervous to learn he will be working with Jeff Kover, a tenth-grader with a reputation for being the biggest bully in the school. Daniel has never thought of himself as a bully. He just likes kidding around. But hanging out with Jeff will change Daniel's perspective on bullying and force him to examine his own behavior.

This paper examines how homophobic bullying profoundly impacts the mental and physical health of Black queer children, with a particular focus on the rising suicide rate within this marginalized community. Analysing the representation of homophobic and transphobic bullying in Kacen Callender's young adult fiction, this study explores the devastating impact of both verbal and nonverbal forms of abuse, including rejection, intimidation, and social isolation. These negative experiences contribute to long-term emotional distress, leading to an increased vulnerability to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Meyer's minority stress theory is used to examine how systematic ignorance and rejection of queerness render Black queer children more vulnerable, resulting in insecurity, psychological anguish, and marginalization. This analysis underscores the importance of positive interactions with peers and a safe environment to lessen the damage of bullying. Studies show that having inclusive spaces in schools, communities, or families can foster resilience and higher self-esteem in Black queer adolescents. Supportive networks offer validation, emotional safety, and a sense of belonging, helping to mitigate the impact of discrimination. Based on these findings, this paper highlights a need for comprehensive antibullying policies and implementation, increased education and awareness campaigns, and an inclusive education system that embraces diversity. By prioritizing these actions, societies can create equitable opportunities for well-being and development, ensuring that all children, regardless of their racial, gender, or sexual identity, have the right to grow up in a world free from fear and discrimination.

Bootsie Barker only wants to play games in which she bites, until one day her reluctant playmate comes up with a better game.

In crime fiction courses, students cannot grasp the extent of psychological pressure, the danger of evil, or the importance of rational behavior without necessary involvement. Discussed here is coursework involving the film Gaslight (dir. George Cukor, 1944), where, although no murder occurs, the crime scene is spread all over the story and remains relevant today. I taught Anglo-American literature and culture at an Italian university for more than 20 years, and crime fiction-especially crime fiction involving women-soon became one of my favorite subjects. During my career, my students and I analyzed the main female characters in Sherlock Holmes' adventures, Louisa May Alcott's A Whisper in the Dark (1877), Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), Anna Katharine Greens stories starring Violet Strange (1915), Susan Glaspell's Trifles (1916), and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper (1892) and Unpunished (1927, pub. 1997). Many of these female protagonists are victims of manipulation and abuse, and a recurring motif is the charge of insanity by a husband, a relative, or another representative of the patriarchy (Gilbert and Gubar; Melville). A fascinating case study is a particular film that attracted my attention since it perfectly shows what manipulation is and how it works. Gaslight (aka The Murder in Thornton Square) was directed by George Cukor in 1944. It was inspired by a 1938 play by the British author Patrick Hamilton (Gas Light, aka Angel Street) and by a previous film version by Thorold Dickinson (1940). This film gave the term gaslighting the meaning it still has today-that is, the act of manipulating a person to make the individual appear insane and thus to take control of the person's will (Carey; Cowie). The story takes place in the 1880s and features the young protagonist Paula. After the mysterious death of her aunt, a famous opera singer, Paula moves to Italy to become an opera singer herself. There she meets Gregor, and they decide to marry. He insists on returning to London, and they, despite Paula's initial resistance, live in her aunt's house. Little by little, Paula notices strange occurrences-missing pictures, footsteps in the night, and gaslights that dim without being touched. While she fights to retain her sanity, her husband behaves protectively, but his true intention is to drive her to madness. The home ceases to be perceived as a safe place by Paula, who finds it harder and harder not only to pursue her profession but also to meet people and to be a compliant \"angel of the house\" as expected. Even though elements of melodrama and even gothic are involved (Doane, cit. in Gallafent; Fletcher; Waldman), and far as it seems from our contemporary problems, this film still offers the perfect example of an elaborate crime scene constructed meticulously around the victim-an innocent and loving woman whose only fault is to undervalue the signals of predatory male narcissism. From 2017 to 2020, my master's classes-almost totally female-were encouraged to determine the exact moment in the film when Paula should have sensed danger. After watching the movie, they were asked to make a list of the critical moments-from the beginning, when the couple meet in front of a gate; continuing to scenes on a train, when Paula is traveling alone and meets an old lady; and moving on to the train station (when Gregor appears unexpectedly) and the house (when strange things start happening). Many discussions followed, and no one, at first, seemed to realize that the man has an attitude disrespectful of the woman that dates from his first appearance on screen. Psychological violence was understood as gallantry, insistence was perceived as true love, and oppression was interpreted as protection. The difficulty of many students to recognize the early signs of psychological violence shows that even today, 80 years later, this kind of crime fiction does not only have an aesthetical value but also can teach young women to acquire a deeper awareness of their rights and of the importance of words (Gheno; Lipperini and Murgia). Assignments for discussion included the following: 1. Can a \"no\" be interpreted as a \"yes\"? 2. If so, when and why? 3. Has such a case ever occurred to you? 4. Is \"courting\" still an option in our society? 5. On a scale from 0 to 10, how many points would you assign to these terms in a friend/lover relationship? Respect, Insistence, Jealousy, Protection, Sincerity, Caring. We worked on the sources, on the different versions of the story, and even on the legal lexicon-from stalking to rape to marital abuse-and great space was given to proxemics. Multilingualism was a resource rather than an obstacle, since it enhanced our capacity for watching and problematizing images, expressions, and extra-verbal codes. This is an excerpt from student Jasmine Farizi's essay: While watching the film, I tried to focus as much on the dialogues as on the aspects of nonverbal communication. .. . For example, when Paula is on a train conversing with an elderly lady. The interaction between the two turns out to be very important because it would seem to be intended to anticipate what we will see later in the film. In fact, the lady, as soon as she learns that Paula is traveling alone, advises her to be careful and tells her that the book she is reading tells the story of a man who, after killing six wives, begins a cohabitation with another woman. A further warning sign we sense is Gregory's [sic] sudden and unexpected appearance at the train station. We discussed the expressions on the protagonists' faces and the words sudden and unexpected: the students were asked if they would have been happy or upset in that situation. They agreed that the man's appearance might be an act of love, but it also reveals disrespect for the desire for solitude the woman had previously clearly expressed to him. We demonstrated nonverbal communication, performing big smiles and proud frowns. By empathizing with the characters and through role playing, we experienced joy, fear, betrayal, disappointment, and ultimate relief. I made sure to avoid gender biases and to distinguish between the offender and the rescuer-both male. Gaslight helped students understand that even though there is no murder by the end of the story, several serious crimes have been committed that cannot be dismissed as minor wrongdoing. This film made students better understand the ethical, social, and cultural relevance of crime fiction, also increasing their knowledge of gender and film studies. The importance of studying crime fiction-not only of reading books or watching TV series-was perfectly understood and appreciated, especially by those students who wanted to continue their studies or work in social sciences, psychological fields, and teaching. They realized that, through crime fiction, trauma and psychological violence can be studied, and they can learn to recognize and contrast those kinds of \"taboo\" crimes such as marital abuse. Students have learned that behind a seemingly romantic relationship, there may be big trouble, and this can help them defend themselves from cyberbullying, stalking, and any kind of manipulation.

Cicada work in tall building. Data entry clerk. Seventeen year. No sick day. No mistake. Tok Tok Tok! Cicada works in an office, dutifully working day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his co-workers. But one day, something truly extraordinary happens.

For author Laurie Halse Anderson, a survivor of trauma, putting pen to paper allowed her to make sense of the world. Discover how the acclaimed Young Adult author has connected with readers across the globe.

\"When bullies try to stop the extremely cute animals from building their sand castle they band together to build something bigger and better\"-- Provided by publisher.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how narrative is constructed to create connections with fat readers, how books function to envision spaces of fat liberation for young readers and to highlight the incredible importance of providing bigger mirrors (Bishop, 1990) for fat representation in children’s literature. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyzes and reflects on two texts that contain counternarratives of fatness: The (Other) F Word: A celebration of the fat and fierce edited by Angie Manfredi (2019) and Big by Vashti Harrison (2023) to interrogate how these two narratives intentionally disrupt anti-fat bias. Findings Body size and fatness are identities that need to be included in diversity efforts within education. Books like The (Other) F Word: A celebration of the fat and fierce (Manfredi, 2019) and Big (Harrison, 2023) offer positive representations of fatness, disrupt biases around body size and provide spaces that allow fat students to find joy, hope, connection and, more than anything, imagine a way toward liberation. Research limitations/implications This paper highlights the need to include more narratives of positive fat representation within children’s literature and calls for educators to interrogate their own anti-fat biases and practices. Originality/value There is a lack of research on fat representation specifically within children and young adult literature. This paper provides an analysis of two pieces of literature with fat representation that brings attention to the need for this type of future research.