All Parents Must Watch French Anti-Bullying Ad

Bullying has been hugely in the news lately, what with the bullying case in the Miami Dolphins locker room that led one player to quit and the alleged bully to be suspended.

A still from the powerful French
anti-bulling ad.  

And, worse, we keep hearing of youths committing suicide because of incessant bullying. Makes me want to cry every time I hear about one of those cases.

Now, there's a brilliant television ad out of France that all parents, all adults really ought to see.

Bullying is often dismissed as a rite of passage for kids, a day of being picked on a bit. It toughens you up, supposedly. Adults do it to. "Toughening up" was the excuse used in the Miami Dolphins locker room, apparently.

Anyway, the French ad puts adults in the shoes of the kids being bullied. In the ad, a proper looking businessman tries to do his work, but co-workers relentlessly bully and assault the businessman with extreme cruelty, in much the same way kids bully some of their peers.

I'll translate from French the tag line at the end of the ad: "A day at work does not look like this. And a day at school?"

According to Huffington Post, the ad is a promo for a  documentary on school harassment airing on France 5.  Apparently, bullying is a severe problem in France, too.

Let's help put a stop to it. We can begin with watching this awesome but painful video: