Can someone please explain this for me promotes suicide, self-harm, abuse, or bullying;
how would one “promote bullying” in a story? as i am obviously trying to avoid promoting it but I don’t know in what way one promotes it so it wouldn’t seem like I am if that make any sense. Bottom line what is an example of promoting bullying vs having a short flash where a character is bullied, as I stated I do not wish to promote it.
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My understanding is that you have a character that is the bully, and the level of it is explicit.
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Okay. so when they say “promoting” they mean making it seem like a good thing (suicide/selfharm/abuse) or correct behavior (bullying). I’ll give you a few examples to draw comparision:
Bullying
Promoting : The character that’s a bully is cheered on, given props for bullying, etc. Making it seem like what the bully is doing is okay and accepted by the world.
Using in story: Character that’s bullied: You can show/give narration that shows bullying in a negative way. Bullying itself isn’t forbidden- just making it seem like something that’s good and acceptable is.
Self-harm/suicide/abuse:
Promoting: Showing any of these in a good or acceptable light. You can’t make it seem like suicide or self-harm is something that should happen or is ‘the only way out’ of pain. Going into detail about how they do this. As far as abuse goes, there’s a difference between MC is in a toxic relationship, leaves and finds happiness and MC stays in a toxic and abusive relationship because “love” and accepts the behavior of her LI.
Showing/Using in story: You can’t show anything explicit. They can’t commit suicide/self-harm or show explicit abuse (beatings,rape, sexual assault, etc.) on screen but you can mention/allude to it without going into detail of how they did it, what they used etc.)
You can use these themes in passing (mentioning it in a negative way) or showing small, appropriate scenes where the Mean girl says mean things and the MC is either hurt by the remarks or stands up for themselves. Just be sure you show it in a negative way, like what the bully is doing isn’t okay. Just keep the content minimal and if you are unsure if something meets this guideline, you can always submit your story for review to the episode team.
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thank you everyone that is much more clearer for me now I’m definitely not promoting it they way I am doing it.
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In guides it says that there should not be any content of suicide, depression and/or self-harm scars or self-harm happening or being described in your story and for the bulling, you cant have characters under the age of 16 and younger being bullied. And for the abuse, I think you can have it as long as it doesnt show any blood etc, but you cant show images of kids getting abused from their parents. That’s what I understand and know i hope this helped 
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hi so im a disabled writer who is writing a story about a disabled girl who deals with bullying and self harm how do I write so that I don’t violate guidelines?
Can I use words like retarded in my script?