National Center for Bullying Prevention

(The crew is at recess or at the park.)
BRAD: Hey! Come over here everybody! Let’s get a basketball game going!

SALLY: (comes over in her wheelchair) OK. I want to play! That sounds like fun!

BRAD: Not YOU! You can’t play sitting in that weirdo red wheelchair of yours.

CARMEN: Sure she can! Why can’t she play?

BRAD: Because she will ruin MY game, that’s why!

MICKEY: May I play?

BRAD: No, you cannot, dummy!

MICKEY: But I played basketball for Special Olympics.

CHANDRA: That’s mean, Brad. Sally and Mickey want a chance to play, too. Remember, kindness is important.

JEFF: How about me?

BRAD: Of course not. You can’t hear.

SALLY: Well, who can play with you, Brad?

BRAD: Only people like me can play.

CARMEN: Brad, nobody’s the same as you. Everybody’s different.

BRAD: I don’t care. I still get to decide who can play, and I only want people like me!

CHANDRA: Brad, if only people who were exactly alike could play, then no one could play together.

SALLY: That’s right. If everyone had to be the same, then everyone would have to be in a chair and be able to do spin and do wheelies like I can! (She demonstrates.)

JAY: If everyone had to be the same, then everyone would have to be able to sign their moves secretly to your team to confuse the other side like I can! (He signs something.)

MICKEY: If everyone had to be the same, then everyone would be in Special Olympics like I was!

CHANDRA: Everyone would have to wear glasses like me!

MATT: Everyone would have a striped shirt like me!

PIP: Everyone would have to be furry with whiskers, like ME!! (Squeaks.)

CARMEN: See, Brad, everybody’s different. We are all special and unique. We’d all have to play alone.

(Brad looks sad and starts to leave.)

JAY: Or we could be friends and all play together.

MOLLY: Hey, Brad!! Come back! Let’s count off by 2’s and play a game.

MICKEY: I’ll play forward.

SALLY: I’ll be a guard. Will you, too, Chandra?

CHANDRA: Sure! Brad, will you be center?

BRAD: (returns gratefully) OK. Thanks for being so nice to me. I wasn’t very nice to all of you, was I?

CHANDRA: You know what the crew says—Kindness is important.

SALLY: Everybody is different in some way and that’s cool.

CARMEN: And if everybody is kind to each other, everybody wins.

MICKEY: I still want to play. Doesn’t everyone?

ALL: Yes!!

Each of you has a special thing you can do,

It is good to work together as a crew.

And remember you will find,

Life is nicer when you’re kind.

THE END

The Play

(The crew is in the classroom.)

MRS. BRIDGE: Good morning, Crew!

CREW: Hey, Mrs. B!! Good Morning! Hi!! What’s up for today??

MRS. B: Today we are going to solve a puzzle by playing the game Scrabble®.

MATT: Huh? Say what???

PIP: SQUEAK??? (meaning, “what’s Scrabble®?”)

MRS. B: Scrabble®. It’s a word game.

CHANDRA: I know that game! Everyone gets some letters, and you try to make words out of them.

MRS. B: That’s right. I’m going to give you some letters, and you see what sort of words you can find using them.

MATT: And the winner is whoever makes the most words!! That will be me!! Super Matt!! (The Matt puppet “flies” around.)

MRS. B: Well, not exactly, Matt. In this version of the game, everyone can win, if you figure out the words correctly.

BRAD: What kind of game is that? Games have to have winners and losers . . . like baseball . . . which I rock at, by the way!!

SHANNON: (yawns) Let’s start, OK? I’m falling to sleep here.

CARMEN: I think it sounds like fun! Let’s do it!!

MRS. B: I will get the letters.

BRAD: (whispers to MATT and SHANNON) You guys can be my posse, and the three of us can rule in this silly game!! Grab all the letters you can! (MATT and SHANNON agree.)

MRS. B: Here are your letters, Crew. Remember EVERYONE can win this game.

Now everyone take a letter. Get ready, get set . . . (But before she can say “go”—MATT, BRAD, and SHANNON grab the most of the letters and retreat to the far side of the stage.)

CHANDRA: Hey! You guys took more than your share of the letters . . . come back here!

MATT: No way!! We’re going to win this game!

SHANNON: Yeah. You still got a few letters. (laughs)

BRAD: Just buzz off and work with the letters you have.

MATT: Make some teeny tiny words! While we make the big winning words over here! Super Matt strikes again!!

(The other crew members are on the far side of the stage, they look at their few letters—they hold them up . . . all are vowels. Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage ---)

SHANNON: OK. Here’s a good word-FSSR. That spells “fisher”.

MOLLY: Shannon, that doesn’t spell “fisher”.

JAY: That doesn’t spell anything.

NICK: It’s just sounds . . . fsssssrrrr

MICKEY: It sounds like a balloon running out of air . . . fssssrrr.

BRAD: Well, there must be some good words here in all these letters. How about this one ---GNS.

JAY: What does that spell?

BRAD: It doesn’t spell anything exactly. It’s an abbreviation for Great! No School . . . GNS!!

ALL: (Laugh at Brad . . .)

BRAD: Shut up, losers!

SALLY: You know what the problem is? You guys don’t have any vowels. That’s the trouble.

MOLLY: That’s right. You can’t make words without vowels. Right, Mrs. B?

MRS. B: I’m afraid that’s right, Molly.

CHANDRA: And, look. We have only vowels on this side.

MICKEY: We better team up and work together!

MRS. B: Great point, Mickey! And here’s another clue. If you put all your letters together correctly, it will spell out one very important sentence. Can you solve the puzzle?

MATT: I got a better idea. How about you guys just give us your vowels.

JAY: No way, Matt. Let’s do this by working together . . . the whole crew.

SALLY: I’m sure it will be easier that way, too. Sharing is the best way.

BRAD: I don’t know . . .

(But, the two sides of the stage are moving to the middle.)

NICK: Look…if we use your letters and this “I” from our side, we can make S-I-N-G. Sing.

BRAD: OK.

SHANNON: And, we can put these together and make H-U-R-F-S . . . hurfs?

MATT: That’s it! HURFS SING!! That’s the answer!!

MICKEY: What’s a hurf???

CARMEN: No. That’s not it.

MATT: See? This isn’t working? Just hand over your letters and let Super Matt do this!!

NICK: No, let’s not give up. I think I see a word . . . F-U-N. Fun.

BRAD: Are we on the right track, Mrs. B?

MRS. B: You are, Crew. Fun is one of the words.

JAY: Here’s I and S . . .

MICKEY: Is!!

CHANDRA: Blank .IS FUN . . . what letters are left?

MOLLY: H S G N R and I

SALLY: S-H-R-I-N-G . . . shring?

CARMEN: Shring is fun? Are you sure there aren’t any more letters?

SHANNON: Everybody look around. See if we dropped any letters.

(PIP pops up carrying the letter A.)

MICKEY: Pip!!

PIP: Squeak? Squeak?

ALL: (laugh)

CHANDRA: I see, not “shring” but . . . S-H-A-R-I-N-G

NICK: Sharing is fun!!

MATT: Is that it, Teach?

MRS. B: That’s it, Crew!! You did it by working together and sharing your letters and your brains!! Wasn’t it easier when everybody cooperated?

PIP: Squeak!!

BRAD: No, Pip, you really weren’t much help this time!! (All laugh.)

ALL:

     Playing Scrabble® helped us see
     That “I” is not as good as “WE.”
     The Crew will show you when you’re done,
     Everyone knows that SHARING IS FUN.

THE END

(The crew is in the classroom)

SHANNON: (raises her hand and calls) Mrs. Bridge? (louder) Mrs. BRIDGE???? (louder yet…insistent) MRS. BRIDGE!!!!!!!

CHANDRA: Gee whiz, Shannon! Pipe down. Can’t you see Mrs. Bridge is busy feeding Pip?

SHANNON: (angry) Be quiet, four eyes!! Nobody is talking to you!

SALLY: So Chandra wears glasses, Shannon. Big deal. It’s not cool to call her a name like that just because you are angry and impatient.

SHANNON: Right! Like I am going to listen to someone like you! You can’t even walk! Am I right, Molly?

MOLLY: (shyly) Hey, everybody. Let’s not fight, please.

MATT: I think Shannon is right. Chandra’s got bug eyes and her brother’s nothing but a dummy!! STUPID!! BUG EYES!!

(Now the whole class erupts into a loud argument. Some support Shannon and some support Chandra.)

MRS. BRIDGE: Class! Stop it this minute!! This isn’t like you at all!! You know it’s not cool to call people names. (thinks) Hmmmm. I have an idea. Here—everybody put these on.

(All puppets, including Pip, duck down and come up wearing masks.)

BRAD: Yo? Mrs. Bridge? What’s with the masks? It’s not even Halloween. What’s with the disguises?

MICKEY: I think Halloween ROCKS!!

CARMEN: You got that right! This year for Halloween, I got this HUGE, GIANT bag of goodies and . . .

(The whole crew chimes in with their own Halloween stories.)

MRS. BRIDGE: (regains order) Quiet, quiet . . . I know it’s not Halloween. We’re playing a message game. Here’s how it goes: First, everybody look around you. Look at the crew member next to you.

JAY: Hey!! Everybody’s wearing a mask. Even Pip!! (Everyone laughs.)

PIP: squeak, squeak

MRS. BRIDGE: That’s right, and we all look pretty much the same. Now, everybody act like this: hands down in front of you, feet together, and look straight ahead. (Everybody does this.) Good. Now, everybody talk like a robot and say, “I like pizza.”

ALL: (robotic voice) I like pizza.

MRS. BRIDGE: Now, use the same voice and say, “I like dogs.”

ALL: (robotic voice again) I like dogs.

PIP: Squeak! (in protest)

MRS. BRIDGE: (laughs) OK, Pip, I hear you!! Robots, all say, “I like hamsters.”

ALL: (robotic voice) I like hamsters.

MICKEY: This is boring.

MATT: Yeah. This could get old really fast.

PIP: Squeaks! (in agreement)

MOLLY: Mickey’s right! So is Pip!! (All laugh in agreement and chime in that it is boring.)

MRS. BRIDGE: Do you see, Crew? If we all looked and stood and sounded exactly the same, if nobody was any different from anyone else, what would the world be like?

SHANNON: Not much fun.

MATT: Man. That is true. Me, I’d be sound asleep. (snores)

ALL: (laugh at Matt)

MRS. BRIDGE: That’s right. Remember—differences are cool. Everybody’s different in some way and that’s a great thing. So, let’s be really careful from now on to remember that and not call each other names.

MOLLY: Names hurt people’s feelings.

SALLY: Names can make you to lose a good friend.

SHANNON: I’m sorry, Chandra and Sally. I hope we can get along.

MATT: I’m sorry, too.

CHANDRA: Hey, it’s OK. We’re all still part of the Crew, right? And differences are cool!

ALL: Right!!

JAY: Mrs. Bridge?

MRS. BRIDGE: Yes, Jay?

JAY: Can we all decorate our own masks in a different way?

MRS. BRIDGE: That’s a great idea!! Let’s all make our own special and different masks.

PIP: Squeak!

MRS. BRIDGE: Yes, of course, you too, Pip!!

ALL: (laugh)

MRS. BRIDGE: (or everyone)

     Here’s a special thing for all to do,
     Make a mask that is just about you.
     Remember at home or at the school,
     Crew Kids say, “Differences are cool!”