Stand up and act out

At the heart of "Stand Up and Act Out" is a commitment to nurturing effective Upstanders; students with the confidence and skills to stand up for their classmates should they see them being teased, picked on or bullied.

Research shows that changing social norms, by encouraging students to stand up for each other, is significantly more effective than focusing on attitudes (bullying is ‘bad’.)
And because one out of every three children are bullied, usually on the basis of identity, our goal is simple:

To provide schools with the tools they need to create an inclusive environment, and address conflict in the most effective way possible – through drama!

One of these tools is called Intervention Phrases; phrases designed to either comfort a person being teased or picked on ("Are you OK?'" or "Would you like to play?") or to confront the person doing the teasing ("At our school, we are kind to each other.") We know that providing students with opportunities to ‘trial’ situations (using our tool, Intervention Phrases), empowers them to adapt their behaviors. 
 

Why? 

It’s the very act of using their voice (and being heard), in the supportive environment of the classroom, that gives students the confidence to speak out and to stand up when they see similar scenarios taking place in real-life. It really is that easy!