Return to KOTB Home Page This script features puppet characters Joanne Spinoza and Stephen Arthur. Stephen, who has been physically abused, understands Joanne's confusion and fear when she tells Stephen how she told a trusted adult about her situation and how telling was the best thing she could have done. Major points made in the script include: if you are sexually abused, it is not your fault, your parents will still love you, don't believe threats, if this has happed to you, you should tell someone about it, and you have a right to say no. (Joanne, Stephen)
Nam is the reporter for his school newspaper and he wants to interview Joanne. Since Joanne has had an experience with sexual abuse, Nam is interested in Joanne's story and in other children's learning how to tell a trusted adult if something similar should happen to them. Joanne points out to Nam that there must be a real purpose in her recounting of a painful experience and that, as a reporter, he must treat her with sensitivity. But most important, Joanne shows Nam, through a role play, how she told and how she persisted in finding someone to tell when her parent could not believe her. (Joanne, Nam)
Joanne is planning a quiz show game for the community fair. The game questions are about personal safety. When Nam and Stephen happen upon Joanne, she asks the boys to help her out by playing the quiz game with her. Stephen and Nam learn some important safety lessons such as what to do if a stranger tries to get you in a car, and what kind of information you never give out when visiting internet sites and chatrooms. Joanne then quizzes the audience in a "puppet review." (Joanne, Stephen, Nam)
This "script" is actually made up of three mini-scripts. It is appropriate for younger audiences or as transitions between the scripts mentioned above. "Stranger Danger" models staying away from strangers, "The Numbers Game" deals with knowing your phone number, including your area code and "Emergency Plan" teaches children to have an emergency plan with their parents and not to go with strangers who may use tricks to lure children into unsafe situations. These scripts are performed by Bloomfield–a bird puppet who plays the stranger–and the other three puppet characters.
NOTE: After each script the children ask questions directly to the puppets and the puppet characters themselves answer their questions.
| The Kids on the Block, created in 1977, features life size puppets who, through the magic of live puppet theatre, teach children and adults about disabilities, medical and educational differences, and social concerns. Through the hard work and dedication of many community based groups, The Kids on the Block puppets are able to touch the lives of people all over the world. |