[To view A Blind Eye to Terror, click on the tab at the top of the website.]
What is bullying? Who gets bullied? Is it just among children? What age? Is it always at school? How do you stop it? Is anyone trying to stop it?
What should I focus on?
If I were to answer all those questions (and really, there are hundreds more), it would take a lot longer than a few weeks. Let's face it: there are people who dedicate their lives to this stuff.
I started with personal accounts. If I was going to understand bullying at its core, I would have to hear stories. And stories. And more stories. I was bullied, yes, but not nearly as bad as children like Rebecca Sedwick.
So I listened, and didn't ask any questions. I just wanted to hear stories.
Out of the 25 or so accounts, one stuck out. Someone told me that their classmate in high school committed suicide because they were bullied, and that the school tried to push it under the rug. That's a serious accusation.
It reminded me of Valentine Road, an HBO documentary about a kid named Larry King who was shot and killed in class because he was different. After the murder, Larry's school refused to put up a memorial.
I needed to talk to Marta Cunningham, the documentarian behind the story. It was the first time I got a hold of a serious source through Twitter. After a handful of tweets, I got a phone call from Ms. Cunningham.
She couldn't comment on the school's decisions, unfortunately, but she did answer my questions about bullying in America. She mentioned that there were progressive techniques out there that schools were not utilizing.
Enter Josh and Gab. I had always wanted to do a story about Josh and Gab, and I had finally found the perfect fit. To ease the atmosphere in the story, I was going to embed a video about the performers. End on a positive note, perhaps.
The experience was fantastic, as expected. Josh and Gab are the best of the best, and I look forward to working with them again.
Time had run out at this point (I had to turn it in for class.) The story is not completed yet, though. There are many more aspects to examine.
For now, though, take a look.
