SANDY CREEK, NY – Sandy Creek students were recently empowered by award-winning actor, writer and solo performer Tim Collins during an anti-bullying theatrical performance.
Actor Tim Collins portrays bullied student Gabriel in an anti-bullying performance for Sandy Creek middle schoolers entitled “Standing By, Standing Up.”
Collins’ one-man show “Standing By, Standing Up” was about the struggles students face as instigators, bystanders and victims of various types of bullying.
Before the performance, Collins asked his audience what age group they thought has had the most increased level of bullying on a yearly basis.
The students were shocked to find out the answer: individuals 75-80 years of age. Collins wanted students to know that bullying is not something exclusively happens in schools.
“We live in a culture where bullying occurs and sometimes is even encouraged,” said Collins. “If we don’t challenge those kinds of bullying behaviors at a young age, we are more likely to carry those characteristics with us throughout our lives.”
The performance mostly revolved around a character named Gabriel who was experiencing verbal and physical bullying on a daily basis at school, as well as cyber bullying from home.
One-man show Tim Collins teaches Sandy Creek students how to be an empowered bystander and stop bullying situations.
Collins stated that one in four students experience bullying on a daily basis across the country.
Perhaps the most teachable moments for the Sandy Creek audience involved the bystanders in the show, the people who witnessed bullying around them and did nothing to stop it.
Collins incorporated audience members to demonstrate different ways students might prevent or stop bullying situations constructively, such as changing the topic of conversation, standing up for their fellow students or bringing issues to teachers and school administrators.
“Together, I know we can stop the violence,” said Collins.
