In one recent episode, a popular student council leader bonds with a meek freshman girl to seek a truce with a school bully. In another episode, the students address the school's rumor mill and confront each other. In another, there are the preps, jocks, jicks, emos, stoners and others at Neenah High School in our very own Wisconsin.
The series is based on the popular Challenge Day program, which uses powerful experiential methods to help young people identify the roles that they have taken on to survive life in school. They are able to risk to safely share their social experiences with their peers and make connections with each other on deeper levels than the superficial.
As a psychotherapist, I've worked with many, many adults who carry scars of painful bullying from their school years. Invariably, they want to express their pain and feel that someone is listening. Ultimately, we work together to discover healthy ways to feel genuinely powerful in the world today.
I keep hoping there will be a movement in my home community to bring Challenge Day here. Although Challenge Day is not the all-purpose solution to feeling alone and marginalized, it certainly allows us to talk openly and learn the hearts and souls under the labels and stereotypes.
I keep hoping there will be a movement in my home community to bring Challenge Day here. Although Challenge Day is not the all-purpose solution to feeling alone and marginalized, it certainly allows us to talk openly and learn the hearts and souls under the labels and stereotypes.
Get More: If You Really Knew Me, MTV Shows
