Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois Produce Film to Target Girl-on-Girl Bullying

ROCKFORD - Rockford rolled out the "red carpet" Monday for the premiere of the movie called, I Am the Music: A Rock Operetta.  The movie was locally produced by Rockford filmmaker, Joseph Arco, and filmed onsite at Boylan Catholic High School.  The movie targets erasing bullying from schools and it stars local Girl Scouts.

The film is specifically about girl-on-girl bullying.  It's a problem especially at the middle school age, the target audience of the film.  Vicki Wright, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, says it's a problem that hits especially close to home.

"Here in Rockford, the statistics of incidents of violence in schools where nationwide it's about 25% are girls, in Rockford 38% of bullying occurs amongst girls," said Wright.

The film is centered on the story of Jenny, a shy girl who is constantly being bullied by Claire, the school antagonizer.  Through the Girl Scouts and the aMAZE program, an actual program that just recently started at Rockford Public Schools, Jenny gains friends and the courage to stand up to her bully.

"I think it's a problem that really does need to be solved," said Emily Bettler, who plays Jenny in the movie.

Bettler says she's never personally been bullied but she believes that it's definitely an issue that she sees growing and evolving.

"Sometimes I see it on Facebook," says Bettler.  "Like someone will be like, 'Uhh...you're so ugly,' or like, 'You're like Orange or something like that.'

"I've seen some Facebook fights that were kind of nasty," said Bettler.

In real life Bettler is good friends with her bully, co-star Lexi Parr.  Parr had to mention she's not a bully in real life either.

"You need to talk to everyone," said Parr who has worked on various anti-bullying campaigns. 

"You need to be there for everyone and let people know that you're there for them because some people think that there's nobody to talk to."

Nobody being there to talk to is exactly what happened to Claire the bully in the movie.  All of her friends leave her as she ostracizes herself from being such a mean person.  However, Claire comes around, realizing her faults as a bully and gains friends again by becoming a Girl Scout and befriending the same people who she bullied.

Parr says the Girl Scouts aren't just about selling cookies and getting your patches, but rather it's about learning critical life skills.

"Really it's about being an independent woman or young woman and using those skills your entire life," said Parr.