TIDF was a wrap on 16March2025 but I have a couple more documentaries left in my review basket such as “Sticks and Stones-Unmasking the Truth of Cyberbullying” from Australia and Greece.
I can’t see this as a classic documentary but rather an educational video directed towards parents of children active on social media.
Cyberbullying is often the perfect crime. Create a fake account as 75% of Australian teens admit to doing and you can harass, intimidate, threaten, demean, mock and it is anonymous.
I recall many years ago, was it in grade three, where three boys of my age hung around the school after school to engage me in a fight. Three against one cowardly! But I held my own. I knew them. It was face to face bullying. It was in the physical world where sticks and stones exist unlike cyberbullying where the bully is wearing a mask of anonymity. Without involved parents, mentors or teachers offering support the victim is alone. In cyberbullying there is a bully, bystanders and a target.
As adults we are aware of the destructive psychological and physical effects of cyberbullying and on occasion a psychologically battered victim takes their life.
This production adds value to the explanation of cyberbullying particularly through interview quips with Evelyn M. Field a psychologist and Maria Gindidis a Principal, Senior Lecturer and Director Unit Quality and Teacher Enhancement at Monash University.
Recently here in Toronto there has been a push to ban the use of cell phones in classrooms. What caught my ear was an interview of a teacher who explained a student without a phone was like an addict without a drug. Gindidis reminds us social media for a child is an integral part of their world and their reality unlike for many adults where it is seen as separate from their identity.
Although more of an educational video it is worth a watch. As Bully Zero in Australia assisted in the production you might want to check out their website https://www.bullyzero.org.au/
Directed by Georgios Goris.
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