Jess and Leslie are bullied quite a bit at school, mostly by Janice Avery, Scott Hoager, and another boy. These bullies verbally taunt them and sometimes threaten them, and Janice continuously blocks the bathroom door so other girls can't enter it unless they pay her. Later in the movie, one of the boys even puts his foot out in the hallway and knocks Jess to the ground.
Janice Avery, one of the biggest bullies in the film, confides in Leslie about her dangerous home life. Her father yells at her and sometimes hits her. One time, the yelling got so bad, a neighbor called the police on them, and since then, some of the kids at school have apparently been giving Janice a hard time about it. That's why she is a bully herself, because she is also picked on.
Jess returns home after a museum outing with his teacher. His family appears both concerned and relieved to see him, and then tell him why. He gets the bad news that Leslie is dead and that she died when she fell into the creek after their rope swing broke. (Leslie's death is not actually shown.) He runs off to his room, upset and thinking they're lying. Later, however, he and his parents then visit her grieving parents (as do others). During this visit, Jess seems very "out of it" and is obviously distraught.
In a lot of pain after Leslie's death, Jess starts being more cruel with his younger sister. When she attempts to follow him into Terabithia one day, he yells at her and pushes her to the ground, causing her to run home in tears. Jess apologizes later and admits that he was wrong.
We see moments where the Dark Master is shown running from far away, but it can be frightening to some. Once, he starts chasing Jess until he catches him, but he was actually imagined and was actually just his dad.
One of the imaginary Terabithian animals grabs Leslie by the shoulders and flies up in the air. Jess grabs Leslie's legs and manages to get her down.
In one scene, there is quite a bit of talk about God, Heaven, and hell. Jess and his sister May Belle have been taught to believe that everyone is a "vile sinner," and if you don't believe in the Bible, "God will damn you to hell when you die." Leslie challenges this theory by discussing the beauty of the world and how she believes that God doesn't go around damning people to hell. Later, after Leslie's death, Jess admits that he is afraid she might go to hell because she didn't go to church regularly, or that he himself will go to hell one day, because he thinks her death is his fault. It is considered one of the more controversial portions of the film, especially considering the audience's varying perspectives on organized religion.
