Koizora, a drama full of love

STORY DESCRIPTION

Nowadays, people talk a lot about bullying, but it seems like nobody knows what bullying means at my school. Even the head of teachers agrees that there aren't cases in our classrooms at all. I think they hide things from teachers and we don't know the protocol when a child is being bullied by others. They think it is a game.

Last week, I realized that something was going on in my class. I prepare a game to get to know each other. It was Masako ´ s turn and I noticed there was a strange feeling between my students. Masako is a strong student, with dark hair and brown eyes. She explained to the class that she moved to Spain from Japan when she was 2 years and she had a younger brother. Jaime asked her about the meaning of her name and she said “true daughter” . Japanese parents sometimes pick that name to a big sister as they consider them responsible for looking after their brothers. Jaime, in an arrogant tone, said: so, you are good then, aren't you?

After a few days, I observed that Masako was always alone. At the playground, she walked around without friends. She used to sit in a place where nobody goes to read her book. I went to see how she was and I asked: Hi Masako, how are you? What are you reading? She said she was reading a book called Koizora about a love story. Suddenly, she said: I feel safe here. That shocked me and I asked why she was feeling unsafe. She told me that she has been bullied for 3 years. She was scared of joining groups as they were going to call her names. The last thing they said is that she couldn't be close to them as she was going to pass them the coronavirus. After that conversation, I decided to ring her mum and had a meeting with her. She confirmed the situation of her daughter and Masako ´ s family had a few meetings at the school and they didn't pay too much attention. The head of teachers told her mum that Masako had to make an effort to make friends and it was her decision to decide to spend time with her books. Masako was receiving online threats from other pupils and they also posted nasty pictures of her on social media networks. I went to talk to the headmaster after that meeting with Masako ´ s mum and I upset him. He said it was my first year at that school and I had to learn how to relativize some situations. He was sure we didn't have cases of bullying at school and Masako was the only problem. I left feeling very angry. I couldn't believe what he just said and I promised myself that I would do anything to help this girl. I told my colleague Cristina everything, she is very nice and supportive. She told me that last year there was a student called Martin who was bullied by Jaime and his friends. All of them are my students now.

The next day, I had a conversation with each student and they agreed and told me everything about Jaime and his friends. They said all of them called Masako names for a long time and nobody has helped her yet. I had a big argument with the headmaster. He will probably fail me but I assure him that I will report this case and the school will be investigated

PUPILS AGE 14 YEARS

SELF-REFLECTION QUESTIONS

How is Masako feeling? Do you think the rest of the students are scared of Jaime and his friends? How is the teacher feel? What do you think about the headmaster? Is he being fair and supportive? Would you tell your teacher if you know what is happening in your classroom? Can you think about possible solutions for this problem?

NON-FORMAL GROUP ACTIVITIES Title: How do they feel? Objectives:

To compare and contrast different kinds of online-only friendships.

To detect online hate speech

To know other people's feeling

To find possible solutions as a group.

Martin, or Student, or Jaime and his friend, or Martin ´ s dad, or Martin ´ s mum

Have you ever felt like them before? What would you do if you were Masako? Have you ever met someone like Jaime and his friends? Why do you think Jaime acts like that?

Age: 12+

Number of participants: any

Duration: 30-60 min

Materials: pencils, paper, silhouettes of characters

Implementation:

The students will be split up into 5 groups and they will have to analyze the following character of this story:

In the middle of the classroom, the teacher can put 5 silhouettes (Masako, the teacher, the headmaster, Jamie, and his friend, and the rest of the students). Every student should think about those characters and write adjectives that can describe each of them. In the end, they will have to agree on some solutions for this case and reflects using the following questions: