Bernardo Yorba’s advanced drama class, directed by Mrs. Leigh Ann Swarm,  accompanied by BYMS’ Vocal Ensemble choirs under the direction of Mrs. Linda Nason, performed “No Bullies! Get Real!” , a collection of  five skits, in a school-wide sixth period assembly on Tuesday, October 21 in the MPR.

The five plays titled, “Sticks with You”, “Taking Power from the Bullying”, “No Control”, “Eating Alone”, and “Party Pooper” were written by Jimmy Jude, Sophia Tricoli, Carissa Stewart, Jessica Gendary, Shane Norys, and Jizelle Fakhouri, featured the often hidden or ignored effects of bullying by teens towards their peers, according to Mrs. Swarm.

“There are many talented actors performing in the skits, but special credit goes the script writers, whose scripts were voted on by their peers and deemed to be the most “worthy” of production,” added Mrs. Swarm. “Our Stage Managers, Marissa Berridge  and Blake Bennett also were doing awesome work putting the show together!”

“The collection of five  skits in the production are inspired by the music that will be performed by the vocal ensemble group,” explained Mrs. Swarm.”Additional inspiration comes from a dramatic poem titled, “To This Day.” The students wrote the skits and selected the ones to be performed after brainstorming the typical types of bullying incidents experienced by middle school students.”

Bullying is most common in early teens. About one in every twenty kids are bullied a year. Bullying can lead to physical injury, social problems, emotional problems,and even death, according to do something.org.  Children and adolescents who are bullied are at increased risk for mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, headaches, and problems adjusting to school. Bullying also can cause long-term damage to self-esteem.

“What inspired me to write this script was that cyber bullying is a very common way of bullying now,” stated ,Jizelle Fakhouri. ” I wrote this because these days, way more people are getting cyber bullied without even knowing who is bullying them, and it could end up someone you know.”

Special thanks go to Mr. Sherman Shen who provided the Matador Messenger with photographs from the performance.