As the rousing song "Eye of the Tiger'' roared through the Whittemore Elementary School cafeteria, a young girl named Abby dressed in a fire-engine red superhero cape, oversized sunglasses and black gloves yelled, "I have the power of one!''
Her classmates in the audience cheered, and then put their hands to heart and took the "power of one anti-bullying oath.''
It was an oath to report bullying instead of being a bystander or victim, and not to participate in bullying, taken by all of the school's 500 students during yesterday's anti-bullying event.
"It was an important message, and it's important that it's addressed because it's something that must be implemented. Especially with cyberbullying, it's a serious thing,'' said fifth-grade Whittemore teacher Kathy Grady.
Bullying is not new, but technologies that have only become mainstream in the past 10 or 20 years, like the Internet and cell phones, have created different ways to bully, she said.
School leaders are trying to educate young students before it becomes a problem in middle school or high school, she said. All of the city's elementary school teachers have been trained in an anti-bullying program called Open Circle, she said.
Yesterday's presentation was interactive, with many Whittemore students pulled on stage to perform in the bullying skits, which were portrayed with humor.
Students learned they should not stand by while others are bullied, or remain silent if they are bullied, but tell a teacher or other trusted adult.
"You stop it by reporting it. It really is that easy. When you report bullying, the roles (of victim and bully) don't exist anymore,'' said "Cooper,'' one of the performers.
Fifth-graders Thomas Richard and Eduardo Flores said they learned a lot from the skits.
"It was pretty cool. It was nice. It really did teach a lot about what you should do if you're a bystander - you shouldn't get involved in cheering the bully on. The power of one is probably the most important thing, you need to stand up to the bully,'' Richard said.
Flores said, "There's been a lot of problems in this school with bullying, and maybe this could change it. A lot of people don't use the physical, a lot of people use words to bully.''
Joyce Kelly can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jkelly@cnc.com.
