Childline receive more calls about bullying than any other issue. The likelihood is that every young person is affected by the problem in some way or another. Their report ‘Tackling Bullying’ found that over 51% of Year 5 pupils reported that they have been bullied during term time.
Bullying can, not only destroy children’s happiness, but also seriously damages children’s capacity for learning and for enjoying school.
'Knowing Me Knowing You' tackles the issue of bullying. Our ultimate objective is to reduce the incidences of bullying within school. This 35-minute performance is specifically designed for pupils who are soon to make the transition from primary to secondary school.
It explores through drama and song the dilemma faced by a child who for some reason does not fit in with the crowd and is picked on or set apart for being different. It also examines how important it is for children who are being bullied not to simply remain silent, and how the strength of the group can overcome the power of the bully.
‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ provides a platform for children to express their own feelings and experiences around bullying. Teachers often remark that it gives young people characters to identify and empathise with and about whom they can talk openly.
Through our close work with schools and vast media coverage on the subject of bullying, we have recognised the vital benefits project like this can have for all young people going through these exciting, but challenging, transitional years.
In true Chain Reaction style, drama, song and parody are used to explore the dilemma faced by a young girl called Nicky who finds herself being picked on by school bully Sarah Spiteful and her sheep-like gang. The rise and inevitable fall of Ms Spiteful teaches us that life’s winners are those who accept people for who they are and that the bully never truly comes out on top.
With a supporting cast of Eminem, Ms. Dynamite, Bart Simpson and Liberty X we look at the reasons why children feel the need to bully and the consequences both for the victim and the bully themselves.
Our young audience will realise that we must accept other people for what they are if we are to progress in life and maintain friendships.
Most importantly ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ enforces the need to accept each other and embrace our differences be they related to race, colour, religion, size or sexuality, concluding with the message in song that, we're ‘different but we're equal in the end’.
The performance directly contributes to the emotional health and well being strand of the National Healthy Schools Programme.
The performance is accompanied by a Resource Pack that complements SEAL and the PSHE curriculum.
