Sunday, October 16, 2011
Shakespeare gives the latest strategy in anti-bullying in schools
The Denver Post: Shakespeare is the latest strategy in combating bullying in America's schools, but the idea was not an immediate hit. "When we first told people, they said, 'What? That's weird. How do those two things go together?' " said Jane Grady, assistant director for the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado.
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14 comments:
Initially, I thought this was quite a stretch; but after reading through the article, I have to admit to having had my opinion changed. Malvolio is one of the few Shakespearean antagonists that a majority of audiences feel remorse for at the end of the play. The Duke even says at the end, "He hath been royally abused." Even though it's fairly agreed upon by the characters of the play that he deserved SOME kind of payback, almost all of them feel - by the end - that they've gone too far and regret their actions. Orsino even goes as far as to have his servants run after him and beg his forgiveness.
I hope this work will inspire even one kid not to bully another; that'll make it worth it to me.
At first I too considered how difficult it would be having kids understand, and relate to Shakespeare, but the more I think of it that more I view this as a genius idea! Aside from dense language- Shakespearean works are so very relatable, and are truly entertaining with twisting plots and events, ideal to keep young fidget students enthralled and amused, granted such plays are cut down length wise. I think this strategy is not only keeping Shakespeare's greatest works alive, but is exposing students to a lesser practiced art form, while teaching students important life lessons and illustrating how they themselves might not be alone in all the struggles they face.
When I first read this article I agree with the other comments in that I thought that Shakespeare would be too hard to translate to little kids. But after giving it a chance I can also see how it really can relate to kids and their everyday lives. The Colorado Shakespeare company has a great idea here, working to help kids through the great work of Shakespeare. Worst case scenario if it doesnt work and goes straight over the children's head, at least they are getting exposed to the arts at a young age and that can hopefully end up being a positive. But I think that it can be called a success it even helps one kid deal with bullying or rather stops another.
One of the things I have always enjoyed about the majority of Shakespeare's works is that, because of their themes and adaptability, they remain timeless and applicable to any number of current topics. The most impressive connection I saw between Twelfth Night and current bullying was the implication of "cyber-bullying," something that had never even been close to being considered when the play was written. Despite Shakespeare's easy adaptability, I was also skeptical when I first began reading the article, but the examples of recounts of the reactions to children already involved in this program seemed to me that the message has been getting across. I hope that this program has a positive reaction and will inspire similar programs in the future.
Like Jacob! when I first read the title of the article I thought this wasn't the best idea. I was a little confused but after reading the article and watching the video, I can't believe I hadn't thought of this! It's such a simple idea yet it conveys such an amazing message and it will and has helped many students. Bullying is such a terrible problem and it is something that we should really being taking care of. Pairing it with Shakespeare to teach children and make a point is just an excellent idea. It will teach the kids about what is bullying and why it is bad as well as giving them a great interactive performance and learning about theater.
I think Twelfth Night is the perfect play to teach about bullying and how to treat people in general. You have Malvolio who is terribly mistreated through the whole play, but you also have Sir Toby and Fabian who are the bullies. They Bully Malvolio, but also Sir Andrew and use him for his money. Their whole story line makes this play perfect for teaching young audiences about bullying. The only thing is i would modify the text to make it easier for children to understand.
Using theater seems like a bit of a roundabout way to talk about bullying but as a read more it made more sense as I read the article. A play seems like a really good way to talk to kids while keeping there attention. In a class room as soon as you bring up something like bullying kids zone out. That makes it really hard to have an honest discussion about it bullying let alone making kids think about it and realize that they are doing it. A play is entertaining enough that kids pay attention to it but still has a message.
Going along with everyone else, it does seem a bit far fetched that you would be able to teach kids about bullying through Shakespeare. As I begin to think about all the children's theatre I have seen or am aware of, it is always a stretch and large adaptation to actually make children understand. Adapting works is something that can be easily done if you have a set goal in mind. Brooke brings up a good point that Shakespeare's works are the perfect canvas for many situations and topics that people wish to portray. Im glad that they stuck with Shakespeare and adapted to piece to work with kids.
I guess in theory I can get behind anything that gets more kids to watch theater at a young enough age to maybe get them interested in it enough to keep them interested in it, I am never a fan of these school shows that teach messages through putting on a show. While I'm sure Shakespeare is better then the normal scripts that are penned up for these kinds of things, it probably still comes off as beating a dead horse and then some since you are spending time spelling out every part of the message a person should take away from the show.
I was skeptical when I saw the title of this article, but now that I've read said article, I must say I'm quite impressed by the ingenuity and inventiveness of their idea. Where I thought is was a stretch to talk about Shakespeare and bullying in the same passage, I see now that the producers of this show have drawn some great similarities that make Shakespeare's classical works applicable. Specifically, "the phony letter forged for Malvolio" and its parallel to cyber bullying.
What a great idea! Beyond the larger goal of discouraging bullying, which I think everyone can get behind, this introduces kids to theatre at an early age. If more companies like this existed and made an impact on people at a young age, it could emphasize the importance of theatre as an art form and potentially lead to a rise in awareness of the need for increased art funding in public schools. Yay, killing two birds with one stone!
I think this is such a great idea. One of the best things about theatre is that watching other people can help us to think about ourselves and our own actions. I mean, isn't one of the goals of theatre to invoke change--whether within oneself or in the world?
Not only does theatre help us reflect about ourselves, but to present it to kids allows them to think for themselves. If a kid can tell you "This person was this," or "this person was ____ to ____" they are able to formulate their own notions about the world and others. I think this is a fantastic idea.
This is a great proactive way for schools to try and get a handle on bullying. I, as well as many others, seemed to have wondered if this would really be that good of an idea when the children might not be interested or even understand Shakespearean shows. But the company seems to do a really great job of relating it to topics that the children are interested in and want to hear more about.
What an upbeat article about teaching young kids an important message while introducing them to Shakespeare. The part of the program that Tim Orr and Amanda Giguere have put together that was most notable to me is that they are presenting this material to students who, at about 8 years old, are their most impressionable about trust issues. Most of us can remember the lessons we learned when were where about that age – learning about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy. Letting students experience a story such as Twelfth Night in simple language and having them interact through role playing gives them a lasting impression about the subject of bullying. Also, by creating a correlation between Shakespeare and bullying, they will remember the lesson every time they hear the Shakespeare’s name. And, not to inject boring data into an interesting topic, but statistics prove that the best form of recall is through simple word association.
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