Degrassi: Heat of the Moment

Teenagers and kids of all ages have probably been bullying and pushing each other around since the beginning of time. But now, since the invention of the Internet (which happened on January 1, 1983), with texting and IMing and MySpace and YouTube, bullies no longer have to face their victims on the school yard, like they did in the days before computers were invented; instead, they’re able to hide in the shadows and torture their victims online. The term for that is “cyberbullying” — and has since become very widely known ever since it entered the English language.

The Season 8 episode Heat of the Moment from Degrassi proves how hurtful cyberbullying can be. And in the case of Megan Meier, who was 13 years old when she killed herself in 2006, cyberbullying can also be harmful.

Holly J’s watching the Power Squad practice, and Allia “Alli” Bhandari notices this while walking by with her friend Clare Edwards (the younger sister of Darcy Edwards). She then remarks about how bitter Holly J must be for getting kicked off the Power Squad (which happened in Money for Nothing), and Holly J tells her to shut her mouth. Alli replies that maybe now Holly J can use her free time to find true love. Holly J says Alli wouldn’t know anything about romance, which makes Alli admit she’s going out with Johnny DiMarco. Holly J doesn’t believe it, so she goes up to Johnny and asks him if he and Alli are dating in front of his friends. Johnny denies this before breaking up with Alli, and Alli is heartbroken.

Hurt by what Johnny did, Alli then snaps at Holly J for ruining her relationship and that she can’t be mean to her. Holly J says she doesn’t need a reason to be mean to Alli. 

Alli then goes on Facerange (which is the Degrassi version of Facebook) and starts a group called “I Hate Holly J”, which many people sign up for. Holly J sees the site, and confronts Alli, insulting her. Alli then sees threatening comments about Holly J from people who had joined her group. However, instead of noticing that her dislike for Holly J has gone too far, she feels excited enough to write this post:

“Holly J is a dirty ginger virus infecting Degrassi. She needs to be eliminated. I’D LIKE TO STRANGLE HER WITH MY BARE HANDS”.

Then, the next day, Clare is stating that Alli’s actions are going way too far, but Alli disbelieves her. In the most famous scene of the episode, Bruce (aka Bruce the Moose), along with Derek Haig, takes what he views as an opportunity to lead the the other students in chanting “I Hate Holly J”. However, Clare is the only one that does not join in (as she is shown to be severely disappointed in Alli).

Angered and hurt, Holly J proceeds to storm out of the cafeteria after yelling “Like I care what you losers think!” She then decides to not return to school or her work at The Dot, out of her fearing the growing hatred towards her.

Alli then randomly gets called to the office by Mr. Simpson and her father, where they discuss that her actions were unethical. Even though she gets suspended from school, she still refuses to believe that her actions were wrong, and even states to her older brother Sav (who also knows that she should not have done what she did, even though he himself is implied to have something against Holly J) that “it was totally worth it.” Suddenly, he gets a call from their father, who says the Sinclairs called the police on her for the threats on the group. Alli still believes that Holly J is just trying to make her life miserable, even after the cops explain to her clearly that her actions were illegal (as well as mean), and that she now has a criminal record.

Anya and Alli go over to Holly J’s house and, after seeing what a depressed mess Holly J is, Alli has an epiphany and finally sees that what she did was wrong. Holly J reveals that she did not hate Alli, and adds that she is not returning to Degrassi, and that Alli got what she wanted.

A few days later, the group is deleted, and Alli apologizes to the school and Holly J about her actions. Plus, Anya reveals that she convinced Holly J to give Degrassi another chance. However, Derek shows up and shows Alli the rope (in reference to the comment “Want to strangle her? I’ll bring the rope” about Holly J), which embarrasses Holly J.

From my perspective, this episode is really good and inspiring, as well as very well-written, too. Plus, in the words of Steve Barkin (voiced by Patrick Warburton) in the Season 1 episode Downhill from the Disney Channel cartoon show Kim Possible, cyberbullying is “sick and wrong” (and I couldn’t agree more there).

If you won’t say something in person, why say it online? Cyberbullying must be stopped!


What do you think about this? I hope you agree that cyberbullying is bad, too.

Popularity and Unpopularity

You hear all those stories of cliques and the popular people. There’s a group of them in almost every school. And then of course, there’s everyone else. Everyone else would usually fit into two basic categories: the ones who completely hate them, and the ones who would do absolutely anything to be a part of them. Luckily, that doesn’t happen all the time. When you are everyone else, there’s no median or go-between within the groups. When you happen to be a hater, you are disliked as well.

It’s simple, and the whole “You don’t like me? I don’t like you” makes for good drama. And when you’re a worshiper — well, you are hated, too. There is something about the stalking and strange obsessions that turn the “in-crowd” to hatred.

Almost every teenager has been the victim and the predator — the one who taunts and the one who is humiliated. It can’t be helped. But as for those who are different, they must somehow have to be punished, because that is the society of high school. And those who befriend the different, and are different themselves, are lower than the low in the eyes of judgmental teenagers.

And the social ladder is a frustrating thing. The popular students control the student body — or at least they try to, because some of the students have had it with being mean to others. Instead, they try being both popular and nice at the same time.

However, it’s not always like that. The ones below the popularity circle listen — listen and nothing else.

What are your thoughts on popularity and being popular?

Full House: Yours, Mine and Ours

DJ: (thinking) Oh, I hope that my friends better not see me here with my family. If they do, I’ll never live it down.

Your face is turning bright red. You want to hide yourself in shame. You’ve just done something totally embarrassing (or maybe it’s your mom, dad or younger/older sibling who have done that), and it feels like everyone is staring at you and giggling. Maybe everyone is staring at you and giggling. Hey, it happens to everybody.

Let’s face it. Teens can be embarrassed by their parents. DJ Tanner experiences this in the Season 5 episode Yours, Mine and Ours when she’s in a pirate-themed restaurant with father Danny, his best friend Joey, and her sisters Stephanie and Michelle.

Danny arrives home from work, and notices that the girls are in a bad mood because they haven’t had a good day. Neither has Joey, who would rather forget that day’s “Ranger Joe” episode. Danny suggests that they take a little time off from this stress and go out as a family for what he refers to as “Tanner Family Fun Night”. Jesse and Rebecca stay at home with Nicky and Alex. Danny takes Joey and the girls to a pirate-themed seafood restaurant. When they get there, D.J. is afraid she’ll be embarrassed in front of her classmate Shelly Phillips, who is also at the restaurant, and Joey and the girls seem to get a little more bitter, but they finally lighten up and have fun when, because of not eating a thing, they are forced to “walk the plank” — right into a pit full of balls, that is.

Meanwhile, at home, Jesse and Rebecca are having a disagreement as to how Nicky and Alex should be raised, and complicating things is the fact that Alex is sick and has a fever for the first time in his life. Luckily, however, they talk things out and apologize to each other after working together to help Alex get better.

This is a really neat episode, as well as very inspiring, too. I like it, mostly because being embarrassed is one of the themes of the episode. And embarrassment is very realistic, as it is found quite often in real life.