“Wonder” Amazes Audiences

Stephen Chbosky, the writer and director of the coming-of-age novel and film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and co-writer of the live-action adaptation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” is the director behind this inspiring story of the most unlikely of heroes. With touching performances by cinema darlings Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as Auggie’s parents, this film has been called everything from a “tasteful heart tugger” by Variety to “earnest and sweet, with great messages about kindness, friendship, and acceptance” by Common Sense Media.

Incorporating a tagline that’s extremely relevant to today’s society, the film’s core philosophy “Choose kind” originally came from Auggie’s favorite teacher. However, it actually inspired a powerful real-life anti-bullying campaign of the same name that has been gaining steam since the book’s release in 2012. Launched in partnership with Random House Children’s Books, the Choose Kind campaign encourages students, educators, families and friends to combat the rise in bullying with every day acts of kindness according to this press release. Today, more than 67,000 people have signed the pledge to “choose kind every day.”

“Celebrating those who have made the choice to be kind—not always an easy thing to do when you’re a kid!—is the best way to raise awareness to this very simple fact: kindness is a virtue whose ripple effects can literally change the world,” says Palacio, author of the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name. “One child at a time, one person at a time, there’s no greater antidote to bullying than the steadfast refusal of children, teachers, and parents to accept a culture where bullying is tolerated.”

Idea 1: This movie makes the perfect film for a movie night at your school. Invite families and friends to watch this heartfelt story, followed by a presentation on types of bullying and what students should do if they see one of their peers being bullied. 

Idea 2: Being a buddy, not a bully, takes guts. It means rejecting peer pressure in favor of kindness, and sidestepping what is easy in order to do what is right. To highlight buddies in your school, invite students to anonymously submit fellow students who completed an act of bravery or kindness to be the “SuperKind Hero of the Week.” Hearing about the students’ positive acts every week will be inspiring for the entire school and hopefully reverse any negative behavior that’s occurring.

Idea 3: One of the film’s main messages is to give more value to who people are rather than what they look like. Help students appreciate their peers’ inner qualities by having each student sit in front of a whiteboard one-by-one then have everyone else write what they consider that person’s best quality to be on the board. Take a pic of the finished result to display in your classroom, as well as to give to students so they can remember this uplifting activity long into the future. Or, turn this into a school-wide activity by hosting this activity during your showing of "Wonder."

Idea 4: The film’s main character, Auggie, created his own precept to live by after learning about them in his English class. Following a screening of the film, dive deeper into what a precept is and then have students write their very own by reflecting on their life experiences and what they believe is an important rule to live by.

Show this movie in your school for a family movie night!  "Wonder" will be available from Movie Licensing USA in early 2018!

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