For National Anti-Bullying Month (October), Richie Phillips of 107.7 WGNA, used his Readin’, Writin’ and Rhymin’ program to talk about bullying in elementary schools around the Capital District. The country DJ, who co-hosts the morning show Sean and Richie in the Morning each day, paid a visit to Shatekon Elementary School in the Shenendehowa Central School District and wrote an anti-bullying song with Cate Benardo’s fourth grade class.
I wanted to have the childrenin a vehicle other than just written expression`express their feelings about not being a bully. Kids are so tuned into music today, so a lot of them listen to 107.7 and they haven’t forgotten the song,` said Benardo.
During the first two months of school, Benardo provides a `social landscape` for her students. This year, she decided to focus on anti-bullying because of the stories running rampent in the media about bullying-related incidents and tragedies.
`I figure if you can get kids early on, maybe [they will] grow up with a foundation and start getting the skills they need to prevent themselves from being bullied or becoming bullies,` said Benardo. `We talked about what does a bully look like, how do they do it, are you becoming a bully; then Richie came in and set theconcepts and ideas to music.`
What Benardo found through classroom discussions and brainstorming, was that her students weren’t unfamiliar with bullying, some even experiencing it for themselves.
`They talked about experiences on the bus or on the playground; things that happened to them, what it felt like and how they didn’t want to do that to someone else,` said Benardo. `You could tell they were relieved it was out in the open and they got to express how they felt. Some expressed fear, especially on the bus with kids who were intimidating and they were thankful they knew where to go now, knew ways to stand up for themselves and it gave them a command of what resources they have themselves.`
Olivia Howard, a student in Benardo’s class, shared her experience with bullying and said the song was a fun way to get across the message of `stop bullying.`
`It helped to talk about it and get support from our classmates. It was really fun and we got to express our feelings in the song and it was just a really nice song. Our class really enjoyed it,` said Howard. `I really do want to stop [bullying] because it will make the schools a lot safer and a better place. If you turn it into something fun kids might understand it more. It was a nice experience; once in a lifetime.`
Zoriana Moulton, a fellow student, said the anti-bullying song was a fun and useful learning exercise and that teaching through music would be a good tool for more topics than just bullying.
`It was really fun to just make up the song and have it performed. All our friends helped and pitched in to make up the words and it was fun to hear us singing on the radio,` said Moulton. `A lot of kids like to listen to songs and watch dancing and stuff, so if we danced to it it would be fun because people would be listening, learning and having fun just watching us.`
This isn’t the first time Phillips has used his traveling keyboard and local celebrity to explore topics with children. He’s been taking his Readin’, Writin’ and Rhymin’ tour on the road for 15 of his 22 years with WGNA.
`Kids are not afraid of throwing their ideas out and I always pick a subject that expresses a value, like being respectful, be honest,` said Phillips. `When I started out we’d write about anything like the pet rabbit in the classroom, but thought maybe we should make it a bit more meaningful.`
During the anti-bullying month initiative, which was put together by The Academy for Character Education at Sage Colleges, the mayor of Cohoes and Kathy Jimino of Rennesselaer County, Phillips visited four schools, composed four anti-bullying themed songs and then picked a school out of a hat to receive a healthy lunch party from Hannaford Supermarkets, longtime sponsors of his program.
`We didn’t want to make it a serious contest because the whole idea was to get the word out there, that bullying is wrong, but do it in a fun way,` said Phillips. `The kids were laughing and I tried to make it fun because it wasn’t supposed to be depressing. It sticks in their minds more if it’s fun and has a more subliminal point to the words.`
Teachers or groups interested in bringing Phillips in for some music-making fun, can email him at [email protected].
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