By Nicole Maguire ’13

Photo courtesy of jccoc.org

The documentary “Finding Kind” that played in Hugel Monday evening was an emotional roller coaster that addressed female bullying in the United States. The filmmakers, Pepperdine University students LaurenParsekian and Molly Thompson, were both victims of bullying who went on to co-found the Kind Campaign. They use the campaign to create awareness of bullying in the U.S. and bring change to thousands of lives across the nation.

They have traveled to at least 60 different cities and 28 states—over 10,000 miles nationwide. They discovered that girl-on-girl bullying is universal and far more complex than both Parsekian and Thompson could have imagined. The day-to-day struggles and challenges that girls face, regardless of age, are immense. One hundred percent of girls have had some sort of experience with bullying.

At the end of the film, both Parsekian and Thompson came to the realization that there is no definite reason as to why girl-on-girl bullying occurs. There are many factors that come into play including the media, technology and even psychological components that contribute to bullying, but no single one plays a more significant role than the other. And even though these factors contribute some-what, eliminating them is not the solution in ending this phenomenon—the solution to the problem is to be kind.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Lauren Myers, who specializes in child and teen development, led the discussion after the screening. Her discussion enabled students to relate what happened in the video to their own lives. She opened the floor for discussion and encouraged students to talk by beginning to talk about herself and her personal friendships and things she has done. She also spoke about how women can be aggressive, and how that definition of aggression can change depending on the woman.

“I think [Thompson] and [Parsekian] did a great job of spreading the message that bullying and being victimized is an all too common problem. It is incredible  the extent to which this bullying is taken and disturbing how it affects not only females, but males as well,” said Delta Gamma senior Jenna Blanchard.

“The documentary was a good wake up call that everybody has their own story and that we need to be aware of the effect our words have on someone, even if we think they are harmless or funny. One of the girls said it very well in the film… ‘it doesn’t cost anything to be kind, or to smile’…and in my opinion I find it easier.”