What's A Teen to Do When His Best Friend is a Bully? | Parenting

Yes, parents of teens, it is possible for entertainment to lead to lively and important discussions with your kids. In Field of Vision that aired Saturday night on NBC Family Movie night, we have an example of this.

In this movie, we are presented with the dilemma of a teen (Tyler) who is aware of his friend's  bullying behavior toward a new kid in school. The story is further complicated by the fact that Tyler who witnesses the bullying is the captain of the football team and the bully Nick is both his good friend since 4th grade and a star football player. Tyler faces the dilemma-to tattle or not to tattle.

He, however, has a unique situation in that he has an open dialogue with his parents  who support him in his efforts to choose integrity and to do the right thing rather than being avoidant of both protecting the victim and of getting his own butt kicked. 

He decides after some agonized thinking to do the right thing, which is to make the coach aware of the situation. The coach takes two bullies off the team. The boy who was bullied (Corey) then plays the hero in the game that leads the team to the state championships and all is well as even Nick cheers on the former target of his earlier derision. 

While there is some magic in this movie including a broken video camera, which shows both past and future events, that doesn't distract from the overall message. The message here is that ordinary moments can turn into something quite spectacular if you and your teens take the time to look at situations through a variety of lenses.

It certainly won't be as easy as it appeared to be in this movie, but the oucome might be quite surprising. It can be good or bad or somewhere in the middle, but the message is that bystanders, too, are unwitting participants in bullying incidents.

Your thoughts?

Barbara Greenberg and Jennifer Powell-Lunder are authors of the hit book, "Teenage as a Second Language: A Parent's Guide to Becoming Bilingual."  They've set up an interactive website for parents and teens to listen, learn and discuss hot topics and daily dilemmas. You can find it at www.talkingteenage.com.