‘Kind Campaign’ highlights problem of female bullying

Students gathered in Smith Hall on Nov. 15 became emotional as they watched clips of girls and their mothers speaking about how girl-against-girl bullying has affected their lives.

Lauren Parsekian and Molly Stroud, recent graduates of Pepperdine University, started the Kind Campaign a year ago, traveling across the country to create a documentary that showed the vicious ways girls treat each other and the lasting impact of bullying.

"It's the gossip you tell, the rumors you spread, the friends we betray, the words we call each other," one girl in the documentary said.

The Kind Campaign documentary was created from interviews, personal experiences and research. The film explained that Parsekian and Stroud traveled to 60 cities in 28 states, spanning over 10,000 miles nationwide to help raise awareness about girl bullying. They interviewed girls as young as 8 years old, and women as old as 60.  

According to the documentary, girl-against-girl bullying is a pervasive issue that has affected the majority of girls across the country.

Kathleen Turkel, a women's studies professor at the university, said this type of bullying is nothing new in American society.

"This problem has received more attention but has not gotten better," Turkel said.  "Because girls aren't given permission or taught how to be confrontational, they do not know how to identify the problem and get beyond it so they use indirect and verbal aggression."

The documentary showed the constant pressures girls face on a daily basis to act and look a certain way, as well as the constant competition girls face with each other. Girls from all over the country explained how other girls have either verbally or physically abused them. The Kind Campaign attempted to show girls that these habits need changing.

Junior Emily Anderson, who viewed the film, said she has been affected by girl-against-girl bullying in the past.

"It kills me to know that girls have low self-esteem based solely on what other people think and say about them," Anderson said.

The documentary explained cyber girl-against-girl bullying is another form of harassment appearing more frequently in today's society.

Turkel said girls can gossip about each other using social networking sites and instant messaging, where drama and rumors can spread faster than before.

"Everyone can know instantaneously on the Internet, and that just adds to it because you can do it so quickly, you do not have the time to think this through and think better," she said.

Senior Bernice Man said she thought the documentary was inspirational.

"This is such a strong movement that impacts girls everywhere, and I think the message to ‘be kind' is so important," Man said. "Watching the documentary shows that girls are not alone in this and I hope it will educate and prevent more girls from having to experience these events."

Senior Chris Wicks said he has witnessed girl-against-girl bullying for as long as he can remember.

"I think the Kind Campaign is a great idea and will hopefully help to curb the occurrence of girl-on-girl bullying," Wicks said.

Senior Matt Offman, who watched clips from the film online, said he has witnessed girl bullying as well.

"I definitely do see girls acting negatively toward other girls on a fairly constant basis," Offman said.

Linda Daugherty, author of the 2007 play "The Secret Life of Girls," which highlights cyber bullying, said in the film that although a movement like the Kind campaign probably cannot quell bullying entirely, it could raise awareness on an emotional level.

"We may not all be beautiful," Daugherty said. "We may not all be smart.  We may not all be talented.  But we can all be kind."