River Cities' Reader
November 30, 2010
MWAH! Headlines Quad Cities Youth Conference January 24-25 at the RiverCenter
Written by Ray Moffitt
How do you get through to kids when it comes to making good choices?
How do you get them to save their own lives or that of a friend when it comes bullying or suicide?
A former police social worker, Ray Moffitt, came up with a singing, dancing, skit idea. The 90-minute performance is about tolerance, respecting others and making competent choices in your life.
Kim Bohannon, a counselor at Smart Intermediate School in Davenport, saw the troupe perform and knew it offered an easier way than talking to them to reach kids about such choices.
"It's put into music and dance and things they're familiar with so they can really relate to it and from kids their own age," she said.
Moffitt brought his MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe to Davenport on Monday. Those four letters stand for Messages Which Are Hopeful!
The group is made up of students ages 9-19 from northeast to northwest Illinois.
More than 500 Smart Intermediate students took a break from the classroom but still were educated, Bohannon said.
"They have to have these skills, they have to know how to get along with each other so we can have a positive environment in which to learn," she said.
The troupe's main narrator started it off by talking about "intolerance" in the wake of 9/11 and how it's still happening all the time, everywhere.
At that point, two actors who had been planted in the audience began yelling at each other over whether all Muslims were terrorists.
They were escorted to different parts of the gym while two other troupe members sang the song, "Imagine."
The narrator then bridged into an audio clip of Dr. Martin Luther King talking about how "we are all equal." The "bigot and anti-bigot" actors were then brought together to shake hands.
The next two scenes were similar. A pretty Irish immigrant girl may have been too popular for her own good at her Massachusetts high school. Phoebe Prince was bullied, insulted and stalked, all apparently out of jealousy. Her mother's pleas to school official went unheeded, and Prince eventually committed suicide by hanging herself.
Dylan Wagner of Batavia, Ill., was a high school sophomore and considered a good kid. But he and his parents argued over his mediocre grades. They exchanged harsh words one night when they wouldn't let him attend a party because of those grades. They returned after a walk to find he, too, had hanged himself.
Later, Dylan's last girlfriend was bullied, taunted and accused of being the cause of his death. She also then committed suicide. All this was followed by the song "Why."
The lesson here is that teens need to know that sad moments and dark thoughts don't last forever, that they should speak to trusted adults and that asking for help is really a sign of strength and should always be taken seriously.
Another portrait was put on the easel. This was the picture of a friend of a troupe member. The friend died in a crash while texting.
At this point, Officer Chuck Lee of the Davenport Police Department stepped forward to tell the students, who will be driving in the near future, it's against the law to drive and text. If caught doing so and if an accident causes injury, the fine is $1,000.
"Driving is a job in itself," Lee said. "Cars can weight 4,000 pounds and are consider lethal weapons."
The students seemed to enjoy the performance, but there's still work to be done.
Sarah Neabor, 13, said bullying is a big issue.
"I see it every day, all the time and I just wish it could stop," she said. "Maybe this performance will help."
Aaliyah Serranl, 14, knew that harassment is wrong, "but not everybody knows that and people still do it and it should stop."
Michael Leese, 13, is still worried.
"I pray it does stop. I'm one of the ones who's bullied," he said. "Sometimes telling adults about it helps, but not always."
Copyright 2010 The Quad-City Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
For more information about MWAH! or to book an event, call Moffitt at 630-993-0003, or visit the website MWAH! page.
