Banning movies on bullying won’t solve anything

Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, chairman of Jamaluddin Aziz Mara, has called for an end or restriction on movies and dramas depicting bullying. However, this knee-jerk reaction to societal issues overlooks the complex nature of media and its impact. Media scholars have seen this argument play out for over a century, and history shows that censorship does not cure the reflection.

Early media effects research from the 1920s and 1930s, known as the Magic Bullet Theory or Hypodermic Needle Theory, assumed that media messages directly alter behavior without proven evidence. This theory was discredited by the 1940s, yet the tradition of using media as a scapegoat persists. The rapid evolution of media technology has transformed the audience from passive consumers to active producers who critique and create content.

Therefore, banning a movie to eradicate bullying is a lazy policy response that assumes a direct causal link that doesn't exist. To understand bullying, we must examine the cultural landscape, the psychological mechanisms behind peer pressure, and systemic failures in educational and familial institutions. Research grants should be allocated to qualitative studies on youth deviance and bullying, focusing on the perspectives of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. Censorship is a temporary solution; empirical understanding is the only real cure.