Former bullies help fight bullying

Here's a concept: Have former bullies star in a film to educate teens about bullying. That's the idea behind "The Stories of Us," a 25-minute film that's fiction but looks more like a documentary to some educators, who are showing it in American schools, the Chicago Tribune reports. Teens wrote, acted in, and produced it. One of them, McKenzie Bonnett, was bullied in 5th grade and then - when her parents were getting a divorce and she feared a brother would be deployed in Iraq - she started bullying other girls, she told the Trib. Another US anti-bullying education film starring teens is "Adina's Deck," created by Stanford University graduate student Debbie Heimowitz (see this item). In the UK, a film called "Let's Fight It Together" produced by Childnet International is picking up steam in Britain. In Australia, Brainstorm Productions presents live performances in elementary, middle, and secondary schools about bullying, aggression, harassment, and similar topics.