After devouring one of the more popular PACT lunches, tacos in a bag, the students of Norman Carter buzzed with excitement for the afternoon HOJA performance Feb 15.
The three-man a capella group, was invited to the school not only to perform for the staff and students, but to also talk to the students about a very important topic - bullying. With their speakers vibrating and their voices echoing through the gym, the group kicked off their hour-long show with a brief introduction followed by the song, I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas.
After the floors stopped shaking, they started into their presentation based on the question, "What do you do when you see bullying?" As all three members had been affected by bullying, their stories were told on a personal level. The strongest statement from their stories was how they felt when they were bullied and how when one person came to help it gave them strength to carry on.
Interspersed with their delightful songs and choreographed dances, were two demonstrations involving students picked by the band to come on stage to help get their points across. The students did a wonderful job and received a CD and signed poster as a thank you from the band for having the courage to come on stage and help.
The first demonstration involved Layton from Grade 5. The band invited him up, decked him out with a cowboy hat, Wii guitar and taught him how to do the cowboy power stance along with one of the lines from the next song. The song, Something Like That by Tim McGraw, had Layton dancing and singing the line "something like that" for the crowd. With the students cheering him on and encouraging him, the smile on Layton's face didn't dim throughout the performance.
It was that point the group focused on. "What a huge difference you made for Layton by encouraging him," one of the HOJA members said to the students, "what if we said, 'Layton this song is pretty tough, we don't think you can do it' and you had all been quiet, how do you think it would have made him feel?"
This point was clear to the students who yelled their responses back to the band: "sad, alone, horrible."
The band said the most important thing to take away from the demonstration was that it may seem like it's not really a big deal, but what you say and do is way more important than what a bully says or does.
Taking a break to give a moment of fun to the students, the band tried to teach the students how to create drumbeats with their mouths, segueing into a few bars of We Will Rock You by Queen.
Transitioning back from this to their presentation the group explained a few points of what to do when bullying is witnessed. It doesn't matter, they said, if the bully is bigger or cooler than you, what matters is that you are on the side of the one who is being bullied and have the courage to tell an adult. They also talked about how words and actions may affect others. If you are "just joking," they said, ask, "is everyone having fun?" because if the answer is "no" the joking should stop.
They then sang Firework by Katy Perry followed by a small skit about which band member would be Justin Bieber for the next song, the winner being proclaimed by a game of rock, paper, scissors. The students danced and sang along to As Long As You Love Me.
Then, with apologies to the crowd, they performed a song requested by someone in the audience, Single Ladies by Beyonce. The crowd roared with laughter, almost drowning out the band, as the three grown men wiggled their hips and did their dips as they pranced across the stage.
When the laughter subsided the group spoke about options when it comes to bullying and how they help or hurt the person being bullied, and how choosing the correct thing was important.
They then called up Julie from Grade 5 to help with the demonstration that echoed this lesson. For the demonstration they pretended Julie was on a beach and one member was dog paddling around in the ocean. He then starts to drown. The group posed the question to the students "What would happen if Julie didn't help him out?" Julie pretends to stand there and not care. The response from the students being, "He would drown!"
On the flip side, "What if Julie sees a strong lifeguard, what could she do to help?" The students answered ,"Run over and get help!" So Julie springs into action and runs over to the lifeguard and gets help. Thanks to Julie's help the swimmer is then saved.
The group made the point that if you don't help someone, it is the same as hurting them.
After the demonstration was over, to delighted screams, the band performed What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. They then discussed the difference between tattling and telling. Tattling, they explained, is something you do to get someone in trouble. Telling is something you do to get someone out of trouble.
The last song of the day was Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO, which led into their exiting remarks. Helping someone is the most important thing you can do, they said. If you are being bullied, you are not alone. Go talk to your parents, teachers and any adult you trust to help you with being bullied or to make them aware of bullies.
They also promoted the Kids Help Phone as well as their own website: www.hojaworld.com where kids can sign up in the No Bully Zone for HOJA's No Bullying Club.
The final statement from HOJA was "If we all do our part we can and will stop bullying."
I posed the following question to a few students and here are the fantastic responses I received. I asked, "What did you learn about Bullying from the HOJA concert and what will you do to help put a stop to bullying?"
Cheyanne (kindergarten) said, "[I] learned not to be mean to people and not to bully them as it would not be fun to be bullied."
Tyson (Grade 1) said, "Bullying is bad. To stop bullying I would help somebody and tell the teachers what I see."
Tajla (Grade 2) said, "I learned about bullying and what it is. And that you should tell a teacher or parent if you see someone being bullied, so they can make at stop.To stop bullying, I will stick up for my friends and be really nice to them and won't say any mean words."
Brooklyn (Grade 2) said, "You should help someone if they are getting bullied. [I] would tell the teacher or an adult if [I] or someone else was getting bullied."
Brayden (Grade 4) said, "It's not good to bully. [I] would tell an adult or a teacher if [I] or someone else was getting bullied."
Kaleb (Grade 4) said, "[I] learned not to hurt people and be kind to others. If I witnessed someone being bullied I would tell a teacher."
Julie (Grade 5) said, "I learned that bullying is not right, it can hurt somebody's feelings and it happens in all different ways. Sometimes you don't know what to do if you are not the one being bullied or if you are the one being bullied. To put a stop to bullying, I will not bully people. If I see it happening I will tell a responsible adult and I will not join in on bullying."
Hopefully as a community, we can band together and help our children; we can and should do our part to help stop bullying.
