TITLE “SHAME”
Inspired by this poem about bullying:
RECOMMENDED AGE GROUP/LEVEL
3º, 4º ESO = level 4
SYNOPSIS
A 15-year-old girl or boy returns home from school feeling guilty for having taken part in the taunting of a new pupil. At home, the mother/father notices he or she is upset and enquires as to the reason for it. She or he reveals that s/he participated in teasing and name-calling of the newcomer.
S/he recalls the arrival of the new student, how the teasing began and how the bullying escalated and the new pupil reacted (depicted as a flashback).
S/he admits to feeling remorse and uncertainty as to how to act in school the following day. The mother/father discloses her/his experience of having been picked on as a youngster, and they discuss how to deal with the situation.
S/he goes to school next day and faces her/his own friends, then the new student. (How she handles them will be determined by the “real” pupils in my classes who will need to anticipate and script: 1) the mother`s advice 2) the protagonist`s decision 3) the friends` responses and 4) the new student`s reaction.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS AND OBJECTIVES
Motormouth: the main character whose ironic nickname is based on the fact s/he is the quiet one in the group. Her/his main objective is to be and remain fully accepted by the more extrovert members of her/his friendship group, and has discovered that staying out of the limelight facilitates this.
Chief: the dominant member of the friendship group and, apparently, the most confident as s/he feels admired whenever giving orders, etc, and believes that her/his leadership is needed by the others. Likes to ask questions.
Giggles: as the nickname explicitly suggests, s/he seemingly never takes anything seriously and is always cracking jokes. Likes to speak in funny voices and give everyone and everything silly nicknames.
Alex: the new arrival. A normal girl or boy with nothing obviously strange or weak about her/his personality except for looking a bit lost and nervous.
Mum/Dad: Motormouth’s parent wants her/him to accept responsibility, be sympathetic and attempt to solve the situation.
SCENES
1: Motormouth’s kitchen
Motormouth enters her kitchen on returning home from school. Her/his mother/father offers to prepare her/his favourite snack. Her/his lack of enthusiasm is noticed and the mother/father enquires as to what is wrong. Motormouth at first denies there is a problem. However, on being pressed by an unconvinced parent, reluctantly and slowly reveals that “something” happened at school. Further questioning reveals that s/he feels guilty for having taken part in picking on someone new.
2: Flashback to School Playground
Chief is telling Motormouth and Giggles what s/he did last night. The other two express admiration. Giggles spots a new student arriving and instantly jokes about a “Noob”. Alex asks them for directions to a classroom. Instead, Chief begins to tease her/him (about appearance, clothes, hairstyle, school backpack), quickly joined by a laughing Giggles, and eventually backed up by Motormouth, too. Alex becomes increasingly unhappy and is eventually driven away.
3 Motormouth’s Sitting-Room
S/he admits to feeling terrible and not wanting to go to school the next day as s/he has no idea how to act with the new student. The mother/father asks her/him to consider how the new student might feel. Motormouth offers some opinions about this, and is then surprised that mother/father contributes far more. The parent discloses that s/he had also suffered such a situation at school. They discuss different ways that Motormouth can redeem herself. (This will be determined by the “real” pupils in teaching groups.)
4 School Bus the next morning
Motormouth talks to Chief and Giggles about the incident with Alex and her/his later discussion at home. They debate how to address the situation. (This will be determined by the “real” pupils in teaching groups.)
5 School corridor
Motormouth, accompanied by Chief and Giggles, approaches Alex. The outcome of this will be scripted by students.
ADDITIONAL / RELEVANT INFORMATION
Classes will be divided into groups of five via a teacher-led system to avoid mere friendship groupings. The outline is conceived to give students the freedom to come up with solutions to what is a situation that they should all be able to identify with.
