Bullied

Tuesday July 5th, 2011

The bullying of today is a completely different animal than that of 20 years ago. With today’s technologies, bullies can now harass students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year—and can even do so anonymously.

The rise in bullying caught the eye of photographer Michael Howard after he noticed three bullying related suicides reported within weeks of each other. Michael decided to do something about it, and soon began a personal project focusing on bullied children and teens. He started by taking portraits and testimonials of bully victims and posting them on Project Bullied, with the goal of raising awareness and inspiring change.

Michael told me a little about his project,

I’m still in the beginnings of the project and I expect it to last at least another 1-2 years, but so far I’ve found that most bullying occurs during middle school. The 6th – 8th grade to be precise. All students seems to be open to being bullied—it doesn’t matter if they’re smart or not, pretty or not, or skinny or not. Students have been picked on because they are the ‘successful’ ones in their school, because they appear to be an easy target due to a disability, or because they just don’t ‘fit in.’

Michael also to told me about the story that has affected him most thus far,

The most horrific story that I’ve come across is what happened to James. He’s around 12 I believe, and he’s autistic. He’s been bullied pretty much his entire school career, but this past winter he was at a sleepover and the boys poured cologne on him and set him on fire. He suffered some 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his body and face.

When I met him I couldn’t see why anyone would do such a horrific thing to him. I don’t understand how you would come to the conclusion that he needs to be set on fire. One of my hopes with this project is to talk with students that have bullied others in the past. Right now I haven’t had anyone willing to tell me their side of why they hurt someone else, but hopefully some students will step forward. I’d love to get both perspectives of this issue.

Michael’s ultimate goal is to turn the project into an exhibit featuring still images and video along with a panel discussion to discuss bullying—all with the hopes of raising awareness and bringing about change. Michael encourages students from all over the world to post their own bullying stories on his Project Bullied site because he believes, “that as more students speak up the more social change and awareness can occur.”

- Maria