Recently in my blog community we have been talking about bullies and bullying. Which is why while watching "Peter (of Peter, Paul and Mary), Bethany (Peter's daughter) and Rufus: The Spirit of Woodstock" on PBS, their rendition of "Don't Laugh At Me" struck a cord with me. I immediately got online to see if I could find a video of it to put on my website and found a wonderful program in the process. On the Folklore Productions website for Peter Yarrow is this,
"Peter’s efforts started with the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements of the 1960s, but have continued unabated, focusing now on the work of Operation Respect: “Don’t Laugh At Me” an organization he founded that offers a free school-based program to establish respectful and safe environments for children worldwide."
The download page has curriculum for school and summer camp, music (Day is Done, Puff the Magic Dragon and Blowing in the Wind to name a few), and videos.
The following are videos from Operation Respect...
Operation Respect Outreach Video
Project goals project
Peter Paul and Mary DLAM Music Video
Peter Yarrow to Students
Please do what you can to get this wonderful program out there and put to use. Ask the your children's teachers if they are using these tools freely available online. If not, why not.
Now a more global version of "Don't Laugh at Me."
Peter Yarrow, his daughter Bethany, and Rufus Cappadocia performed "Don't Laugh at Me" at the Great Green America Fest on the PA Ren Faire grounds on July 14, 2007.
From: wiskey2000 http://www.youtube.com/user/wiskey2000
5 comments:
This is a great post. Thanks for sharing this information. Bullying is a very serious problem with devastating harm being done. I'll be keeping an eye on this project.
KB - thank you thank you - so very much - for posting this. I have to say it left me in tears. To hear so many feel the same way I do, to understand where I am coming from. Thank you.
I agree also. Thank you for sharing this. Ethan now stands at 6'2", and we won't say what he weighs, but his days of being bullied are pretty much behind him (and thank goodness, he has a heart of gold, and his mama taught him right, he is NOT a bully in any way, shape, or form). But when he was little, we had problems with him being bullied. Ironically, the "little" boy that threatened to kill him ... moved away ... is now back, and they are actually good friends now. Life has a strange way of working out sometimes.
For the longest time, my altime favorite song was "Don't Laugh at me" by Marc Wills.
Sorry I didn't post back to this right away. I hope all of you pass on this information and see if we can get it into the schools and other programs that work with children.
Carolyn - it was made popular by Marc Wills first, I believe.
I started a website once called Just Believe. It was based on bullying and self-esteem. Back then I was having way too many personal problems and closed the website down. I wonder if I made a huge mistake in doing that. This is great info, thank you for sharing. Bullying isn't just about kids, however. Adults can bully too.
Post a Comment