Member Poem

Don the Bully: Synopsis

With all the examples in the media of adults “behaving badly”, how do we help our kids to understand the importance of positive values? Don the Bully has arrived at Jacob’s school and everything is changing. Instead of listening, everyone is shouting insults; instead of working together, everyone is taking sides. Jacob decides it’s time to take action. What if, instead of acting out, they tried to talk and work things out?

Don the Bully   (Word Count: 607)
By Jonathan Pratt

I used to think that school’s okay,
We’d get to run and work and play,
But something changed with all the rules,
When Don the Bully came to school.

Before when we’d do something bad,
Like being rude when we got mad,
The teachers made us get along,
And say, “I’m sorry” when we’re wrong.

But now instead of having fun,
And playing tag out in the sun,
We spend our recess not with games,
But taking sides and calling names.

When Don the Bully first arrived,
He told us all how he’d survived:
His time in some big private school,
Where all the kids thought, “he’s so cool.”

At first, Don built himself a team,
Of kids who had fun being mean,
They’d cheat and lie and steal our stuff,
Then tell us we should be “more tough”.

And when the teachers saw the fuss,
Then Don would say, “They're worse than us!”
He sulked and acted so abused,
That everyone got all confused.

Don’s gang had started really small,
But as it grew, they built a wall.
His group would stack up sand and shout,
“This fence will keep the losers out!”

Then Don stole headphones from my friend,
He said, "Too bad. They're mine. The end."
I said, “he needs them, give them here,”
“The yard’s too noisy for his ears”.

So Don turned ‘round and said to me,
“You’re tough--why hang out with these fleas?"
“Join me and leave these stupid slugs,”
I told him,“I don't hang with thugs”.

I’d had enough of Don’s new rules,
He’d made it so we hated school,
It seemed like all we did was shout:
What if we tried to work things out?

So one week Don was not around,
I searched the yard until I found,
His gang all sitting on their wall,
And making plans to start a brawl.

I asked to sit down next to them,
And one said, “Sure, but not your friends,”
“Don thinks you’re strong, so you’re okay,”
“But keep your puny pals away.”

I said, “Do you remember when,
“We‘d play together now and then?
“Sometimes we’d fight, but not for long,
“We’d say we’re sorry and move on.”

Then one kid laughed and said, “Now wait!”
“We’re stronger now. Don made us great!”
So I said, “What’s he done for you?
“He’s made a warzone of our school.”

“We shout and hardly talk at all,
“You spend your recess building walls,
“How is it ever any fun,"
“If no-one talks to anyone?”

So every recess time that week,
I wandered back so we could speak,
About how things had changed so much,
With shouting, fighting, walls and such.

I asked them if they’d like a change,
From silly fights and calling names,
We all agreed we’d get more done,
By making peace with everyone.

When next week came and Don got back,
He freaked out like a maniac,
He saw we'd broken down his wall,
To make a court for basketball.

He yelled, “I never liked you fools!”
"And you can keep your stupid school."
He stomped away and threw his hat;
We never saw him after that.

Don said we’d crumble, but we won’t;
He said we’d miss him, but we don’t,
The Monday that Don walked away,
We call our “independence day”.

Our schoolyard’s back and things are good,
We work things out like big kids should,
We still don’t always get along,
But since Don left, we all belong.

We’re stronger now than when he came,
Some things are different, some the same,
But no one's ever left behind,
When everyone is fair and kind.