Walnut Street Theater – Philadelphia, PA

Posted: 10/30/2013

We work in two distinct ways to combat bullying. Eight years ago we commissioned a play called The Boy Who Cried Bully and featured that as part of our touring outreach company. We take shows directly out to schools and when we introduced this play we went from reaching 40,000 students a year in the Philadelphia area to 80,000. Since that first year we have featured an anti-bullying play every year and have commissioned three other plays- The Bully Buster Rides Again, Mean Girlz R Bullies 2, and Only 13. Each show is based on the Olweus Anti-Bullying program and we create a study guide for teachers to use in connection with the shows as well.

Our other program takes teaching artists and sends them directly into area classrooms creating a curriculum that uses theatre to both teach about and directly address the causes and effects of bullying. We create student generated performances where kids can teach other kids about the dangers of bullying and the best ways to combat it. The students are up on their feet directly engaged in the material. The work they have created has been inspiring and teachers have shared with us stories about the positive impact these programs have had in their schools.

Watch a preview of Walnut Street Theater’s bullying prevention shows here.

By: Anonymous