Photo courtesy of Chris Stewart
Junior Eily Hannigan (l), sophomore Chris Stewart and junior Mitchell Koory perform the informative “Bubbyllonian Encounter.”
Juniors Mitch Koory and Eily Hallagan and sophomore Chris Stewart entertain Hillsdale students regularly with their onstage antics. For the children of Hillsdale County, however, the theatrical abilities of these three thespians offer not just entertainment, but a potentially world-changing experience.
Through their involvement in professional youth theater, the three members of the Tower Players teach Hillsdale’s 1st-5th graders skills for survival through a program directed by Hillsdale County’s Child Abuse Prevention Awareness (CAPA) organization.
CAPA, an organization founded to educate children and their parents about identifying and preventing child abuse, is sponsored by the Michigan Children’s Trust Fund, said Laurie Brandes, CAPA’s executive director.
CAPA is directed by a 15-member board that includes a prosecuting attorney involved with juvenile crime and other child protection agents, Brandes said.
“Through [the board’s] eyes, we can see firsthand what the county is struggling with, so we can have an immediate impact instead of waiting for the statistics to come out,” she said.
“The Bubbylonian Encounter,” a skit written to teach elementary children about sexual abuse, targets an important danger zone in Hillsdale County.
“Because Hillsdale suffers from a depressed economy, we have a high rate of unemployment,” Koory said. “In environments like this, there is often also a high rate of sexual abuse.”
During its three-month run, which lasts through March, Koory said the team will give 15-20 performances of “Bub,” as they affectionately refer to the skit, reaching every elementary school in Hillsdale County.
The skit teaches children the difference between good and bad touching through the eyes of a character named Bub, an alien from another planet where people live in individual bubbles and do not touch. Two humans teach Bub about good and bad touch: Using familiar scenes from family life, they show him how the sense of touch can be comforting, confusing and even hurtful.
They explore the difference between good and bad touching, mixing humorous incidents, such as onion-breath kisses from old Uncle Clarence, to more serious ones, such as forced, secret “bad touching” from the same relative.
“You can feel the kids get quiet when we make the transition from funny to serious,” Koory said.
Students often take the material in the skit very seriously, asking questions about sexual abuse during the question and answer period that follows every performance, Stewart said.
Koory said the team usually tries to answer the children’s questions themselves.
“However, if a question is particularly poignant, we will deflect it to Laurie [Brandes] or one of the teachers, because they are trained to handle it,” he said. “It’s rewarding to help kids be aware of all the avenues there are for them to get help.”
“It really hits me when I think about the fact that in any group of kids we see, any given one could have his or her head swimming with unanswered questions,” Stewart said.
The children’s reactions to the performance indicate the team’s effectiveness in communicating their message.
Cassie, 7, and Abraham, 8, who attend Waldron Elementary School, agreed that their favorite part of the skit was “when Bub acted like a baby.”
When asked what they learned from Bub, however, their faces grew serious.
“I learned not to let someone touch me in ways that make me feel bad,” Cassie said.
“Even someone good can touch you bad,” Abraham said. “Even if no one listens at first, you should just keep talking until someone helps you.”
The children often treat the acting team like celebrities; after one performance, Koory said the entire group rushed them to shake their hands. Another time, several children asked for their autographs.
“I don’t know what theirs are worth, but you can have mine,” Hallagan quipped.
All three actors said they found their involvement in the group rewarding.
“It’s combining a love of theater with knowing you’re helping people – and getting to do it with friends,” Koory said.