Rats & Bullies: The Dawn-Marie Wesley Story
| Rats & Bullies: The Dawn-Marie Wesley Story | |
|---|---|
| Release date(s) | 2004 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Rats & Bullies: The Bullycide of Dawn Marie Wesley is a feature documentary film written, directed and produced by Cassidy R. McMillan and Ray Buffer, which probes the suicide of a 14-year-old girl from Mission, British Columbia. Dawn-Marie Wesley took her own life by hanging herself with a dog leash in her bedroom after systematic bullying and threats by three teenage girls from her school. Her suicide was discovered by her 13-year-old brother who had come to her room to call her to dinner with the family. In her suicide note, Dawn-Marie named the three girls who bullied her and threatened her with death.
The incident outraged a nation and fueled a groundbreaking investigation by Canada's Crown, which led to the precedent-setting court case. For the first time in North America, teens were made to stand trial for bullying.
Due to this and other similar cases, the term "bullycide" has been established.
Rats & Bullies not only documents this compelling story, but also offers solutions to teens, parents, teachers and school administrators on bullying, through the interviews involved, including insight from educational expert Rosalind Wiseman.
Relational aggression among teenage girls is also discussed, with a focus on female bullying.
Also documented is the role of a Native American/First Nations Sentencing Circle, which was utilized in sentencing one of the bullies, since the victim and one of the accused were both Native, or First Nations. This form of restorative justice is beginning to gain wider appeal by legal systems around the globe.
Rats & Bullies was filmed on location on Mission, British Columbia, Canada; Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada; Washington D.C.; and California (USA). The film began pre-production in 2004 and covered the court cases, sentencing, and fallout from the event. The documentary completed filming in 2010 and finished post production in 2011.
Rats & Bullies won the Women In Film (WIF) Foundation Award (Los Angeles), from over 1,500 films submitted into competition.
The film includes interviews with:
- Cindy Wesley, Dawn-Marie Wesley's mother[1]
- D.J. Wesley, Dawn-Marie's brother (who granted his only interview about the tragedy to the filmmakers of this documentary)[1]
- Randy Hawes, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, who was the Mayor of the town when the tragedy occurred
- Judge Jill Rounthwaite, who presided over and handed down the precedent-setting historic ruling. The judge has never before or since granted an interview on the landmark case.
- Kyla Mae Dunn, one of the bullies who was arrested, charged and made to stand trial for bullying
- Paula Settee, Dawn-Marie's best friend[1]
- Kevin Gillies, news reporter from the Fraser Valley who covered the court case
- Lee Hanlon, a paralegal who assisted the Wesley family
- Karen McQuade, co-founder of P.A.V.E., and mother of a teenage boy who himself considered suicide due to bullying
- Rosalind Wiseman, Bullying Educational Expert and NY Times Best Selling Author of Queen Bees and Wannabes
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website of Rats & Bullies
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