Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this made-for-TV movie has tweens using the Web to air their grievances with a bully who plays mean-spirited pranks. On the flip side, the movie features strong adult role models and positive messages about friendship, character, and listening to your conscience when making difficult decisions.
Sexual
Content
There's an ongoing romantic interest between two characters, but references to it are limited to longing glances. In one scene, a pet guinea pig's pregnancy causes a teen to ponder how it happened.
Violence
A teen bully's pranks on his peers include pushing, pinching, hitting, and sending them down flights of stairs in musical instrument cases, but no one is shown injured. Only one scene involves blood -- a boy is shown with a bloody nose, supposedly from a bully attack.
Language
Name-calling (like "Byrd Turd") is common.
Social
Behavior
A bully terrorizes his classmates; they get back at him by posting clips of his misdeeds online. Their frustration is understandable, but the solution smacks of cyberbullying, which is a big real-life problem with kids in the target age group. On the plus side, the most prominent adult character is a teacher who's very in tune with his students, the main character's father tries hard to be involved in his son's life, and his wife breaks gender roles by being the family's tool-laden handywoman. The multicultural cast includes African-American and Hispanic characters.
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Not applicable
