Sometimes the messenger is just as important as the message.
That’s part of the principle behind “Pass the Message On,” a bias and prejudice reduction program at Linden High School in which juniors and seniors find creative ways to teach freshman and middle-schoolers about bias and ways to stop it.
“We give the message and training to the older students, they have some open and honest dialogue, and then they take it and pass the message on,” said Karen Positan, co-chairwoman of the Union County Human Relations Commission, which started the program seven years ago along with Linden Public Schools, the Linden Police Department, and sociologist and anti-bullying expert Paula Rodriguez Rust.
The older students don’t merely stand up and lecture the underclassmen about bias. They are encouraged to design creative presentations that will make their audience think about the subject and take the issue seriously.
“In terms of what they develop for the younger students, they might read their poetry or a short story about something in their life that explains prejudice or bias and how it impacts people, or they might develop a play or a skit for the younger students,” said Rodriguez Rust.” They ask themselves, how will we take this message and communicate it to younger students in a way that will make sense to them?”
Students in the program are part of Monica Goncalves’ social studies class. She also brought in students from the LHS drama club, who are advised by Nicole Fetter.
The students started off with an exercise in which everyone in the audience took a sheet of paper that was perfect and uncreased. They were told to crumple it into a ball, then try to straighten it out again. The paper represented a person who was bullied or a victim of bias; once the damage is done, it cannot be undone.
Students also stood one-by-one and told how they think they are perceived and how it affects them. Another group read essays about personal experiences with bias and prejudice. No one read their own essay, and some were written by former students, so anonymity was preserved.
They also handed out cards on which they asked the audience to write something complimentary to give to someone during that day.
The drama club students put on two moving skits. The first was titled “Her” about a girl who is bullied and ridiculed until she commits suicide. The second was called “Send,” which showed a student sending an inappropriate photo of his former girlfriend. The girl ends up ostracized, and others end up charged with a crime.
As “Pass the Message On” continues each year, it builds a natural momentum.
“What’s great about this class – we’re in our seventh year – so some of them were exposed to it in middle school,” Positan said. “Then they were exposed to it as freshmen.
Photo captions:
Linden High School social studies (purple shirts) and drama club (black shirts) students. On the left is Sean Spiller, host of “Classroom Close-Up NJ,” along with program coordinators Paula Rodriguez Rust and Karen Politan of the Union County Human Relations Commission.
Sean Spiller, host of “Classroom Close-up NJ” on NJTV, with students Layrissa Destin, Nevaeh Corvington, Devon Miller, Ty'zhe Boyd, Lorelle Lane and Jason Muldowney
Students, from left, Devon Miller, Ty'zhe Boyd and Lorelle Lane talking on camera to “Classroom Close-up NJ” about the “Pass the Message On” program.
Students, from left, Nevaeh Corvington, Love Desrosiers and Brooke Beyer reading essays written by other students about ways bias has hurt them, during their “Pass the Message On” presentation.