Joanna Young (left) and Ben Siddiqui (right) try to spread a rumor to Ben Marinelli during a role-playing exercise. “Do you really think that?” asks Marinelli, as he effectively blocks the rumor from spreading further. (Photos by Lisa Aciukwicz)

“You can’t sit here!” shouts Eric Xing (center) in a role-playing game with his classmates about excluding students at the lunch table.

Left: Rebekah Lindsey (left) listens as Emma Stoeffel explains how her mother, who works in another school system, has been able to employ with her own students some of the anti-bullying techniques she’s learned from Emma.

With bulletin boards, podcasts, rap songs, and a website, fifth-graders in Mrs. Keith’s class have banded together to put a stop to bullying wherever they see it. Their program has drawn national attention, with a possible visit from CBS News.

The class began to discuss the issue late last fall, after reading an article in the magazine Time for Kids. They decided to tackle the problem head-on. “The kids own this project,” Mrs. Keith said. “They initiated it.”

With help from their teacher and from guidance counselor Mrs. Reale, students are practicing ways to counter bullying on the playground or in the lunchroom. And some of the students see an even larger scope for the project. “If it starts to evolve and evolve,” said a student named Emma, “it could help the whole world.”

Mrs. Keith explained that the students have been skilled at “creating a buzz to get the message across” to the rest of the school. The whole class helped with a huge bulletin board display near the school’s front door. Caroline described a play that the class will present at the upcoming Wellness Fair. Omar noted that they have created links on the project website to well-known people who have taken stands against bullying. Noah, Ben, and Harry composed a rap on the topic. Maggie, Caroline, Joan, and Ann made a podcast. Kyle and Nick created a logo.

Early in their project, students discussed ideas from the website Bullies to Buddies. One of the first things students learned is that much of the usual advice on dealing with bullies doesn’t work. Josh, Paul, and Nicholas enthusiastically role-played a scene to show that getting angry, fighting back, or arguing just makes the situation worse, giving bullies the attention and excitement they want.

Students also agreed that direct adult intervention was not effective in stopping the usual social bullying. While adults might offer helpful advice, students felt they had to solve the problem themselves.

On the other hand, all agreed that physical bullying did call for adult action and should be reported. But, as Paul pointed out, physical bullying often begins with verbal attacks; and, if the problem can be managed at the earlier stage, it may never escalate to the physical level.

Groups of students worked together to role-play a variety of coping strategies against bullying. Playing the bully, Kyle tossed an insult at Emma. Emma responded by shifting the conversation to him, asking how he was. The “bully” was speechless. Michelle and Phoebe demonstrated how telling secrets could be used to exclude Jessica from a conversation. Jessica reacted calmly, saying, “You’re busy. OK, I’ll talk to you later.”

A large group of girls enacted a lunchroom situation in which they saved seats for their friends, but excluded another girl who tried to sit with them. Gradually, the group split, with some willing to accept the newcomer and others remaining adamant. As the discussion grew louder, one student pointed out that the scenario was no longer realistic because “if you get that loud, the teachers will come over.” With some help from Mrs. Keith and Mrs. Reale, the students concluded that the newcomer and the accepting group could move to a different table, leaving the one or two excluders to their lonely triumph.