“Welcome CBS,” said the sign in the lobby of Hildreth Elementary School, as students in teacher Maureen Keith’s fifth-grade classroom practiced for their network news debut. Cameraman Paul Lederman arrived right on time, at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24. He began filming as students practiced the anti-bullying skits and podcasts that they had prepared over the preceding weeks.

Following Mrs. Keith’s instructions, the children did their best to ignore the huge video camera most of the time, only sneaking a peek toward it now and then. Phrases from different groups emerged from the general hum of activity: “Bullies are lonely and don’t have any friends, so they try to take friends by force.” A person who is bullied “can feel really empty inside.”

Eventually, news producer Alturo Rhymes and correspondent Bianca Solorzano arrived, having been delayed by a wrong turn somewhere in Acton. The team began by interviewing guidance counselor Christine Reale, who explained that she approaches the issue of bullying as an education problem, not simply a disciplinary one. Her job, she explained to Rhymes, is to help all the children involved in the situation. The bully needs to develop better ways of interacting with classmates, just as the student who is targeted needs help in handling the situation with confidence.

Then the fifth-graders went downstairs to Pamela Chapman’s first-grade classroom, where they presented several of their scenarios to the younger children as the news cameras rolled. After each skit, the first-graders eagerly analyzed it, deciding why the bully had “won” or “lost” in each situation. Watching from the sidelines, Solorzano commented, “These first-graders really get it!”

The segment is expected to appear on CBS national news within a few weeks.