Meet the Crew!

• 

  Hey, you. Yeah, you. I’m Brad. Rhymes with bad. You know what my favorite thing is? Making babies like you cry. Don’t even think about telling the teacher I said that. If you do, I’ll give you something to really cry about.

• 

  ¡Hola! I’m Carmen! Not many people know this, but I have epilepsy. The signals in my brain get mixed up. Sometimes I space out. I take medication so it hardly ever happens anymore. But once it happened at school. Some kids made fun of me. I felt so bad. I don’t want anyone to feel that way.

  When I see kids picking on other kids, it makes me so mad! Usually I just grab some friends and we march right over and say, “stop it!” Together we can stop bullying.

• 

  Hi. I’m Chandra.

  I just moved here with my mom and dad and little brother. He has autism. I don’t really know many people yet. But I see a lot of things going on. Like kids being picked on because they’re different.

  It’s just wrong. I try to stop it–even if I feel afraid. Two things I know for sure: Nobody likes bullying, and everyone deserves respect.

• 

  Hi, I’m Jay.

  Yep, I use sign language. That’s because I’m hard of hearing. My hearing aids help a little, but I don’t hear like most people. When I talk, people have trouble understanding me sometimes. But you know what’s cool? I can read lips! It’s, It’s like being a super spy!

  Maybe you could come over sometime. We could watch TV! I could show you how closed captioning helps me understand what they’re saying.

• 

  I’m Matt. You got something to say?

  Hey, I’m better at sports than you’ll ever be. Hit a grand slam in Little League last year. I scored the winning run! Bet you couldn’t do that in a million years. I’ll probably do it again this year, if I feel like it. Yeah, I’m the best hitter on the team. On any team. Better’n you, that’s for sure.

• 

  Hi! I’m Mickey. I have Down syndrome. Sometimes when I talk, you might not understand me. But I usually understand you. In school, I am in special ed classes.

  I LOVE baseball. I even won a medal! Cool!

• 

  My name is Molly! Want to play with me at recess?

  I like it when kids have fun together. Sometimes I see kids being picked on, and I feel scared. I want to make it stop, but I don’t know what to do. Do you ever feel that way? No one has picked on me yet. I don’t know what I would do if they did. Usually I try to hang around with my friends, ‘cause together we’re amazing!

• 

  Hi! I’m Mrs. Bridge. I’m so glad you’re here! I hope you have fun and learn a lot about how to stop bullying.

  I have a little secret. When I was your age, kids picked on me. It’s true! That’s because I had a disability called ADHD. That’s short for “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.” I even landed in trouble with my teachers. And now I am a teacher!

• 

  Hi, I’m Nick.

  Am I the only one who isn’t sure what to do when someone’s being bullied?

  I wish people could just get along like me and my friends. Sometimes I see a kid being picked on and I don’t know what to do. I feel really bad. Should I tell? Should I try to stop it? If I do, will the kids doing it come after me? Or will I be blamed? I want to do something, but sometimes I just feel helpless.

• 

  My name is Pipsqueak. You can call me Pip!

  Before I came here, I lived in a pet shop with about a gazillion other hamsters. I was the littlest one. Boy, did the other hamsters let me know it! They teased me and called me names. Hamsters can be so mean! That’s where I learned something about bullies: They just want you to cry and feel bad so they can feel powerful. Know what I did when I was picked on? I just twitched my nose and said, “Pifflesticks!”

• 

  Hi, I’m Sally! I have cerebral palsy. My muscles don’t always do what I want them to do. But I have this cool red wheelchair. I can go just about anywhere and do almost anything. Last summer I even went to camp and went horseback riding! It was so fun.

  Do you like computers? I do. A lot! You should see me surf the Web and play adventure games. I’m awesome!

• 

  I’m Shannon—but I’m sure you already know that. Don’t you think I’m, like, the coolest girl in school? I do. Do you like my new cell phone? Maybe I’ll use it to take a picture of that new girl. I could post it on the Internet with a message about what a loser she is.

  Good thing my older sister, Marla, and her friends haven’t thought of doing that to me. They are, like, so mean! Marla even told one of my friends that I still suck my thumb at night. I do not!