Not in Our School Videos | Not in Our Town

Not in Our School Videos

Featured: Our Family

In Our Family, children share stories about all kinds of families. Today's children come from families living in one home or two, some are being raised by one mom or one dad, or they might have two parents/caregivers or live with grandparents or other family members. Others have parents/caregivers of different ethnic backgrounds, or who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. And some children are adopted or live in blended families.

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  • In Our Family, children share stories about all kinds of families. Today's children come from families living in one home or two, some are being raised by one mom or one dad, or they might have two parents/caregivers or live with grandparents or other family members. Others have parents/caregivers of different ethnic backgrounds, or who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. And some children are adopted or live in blended families. This short film is a collaboration between Our Family Coalition and Not In Our Town to encourage conversation about the many diverse family constellations, to give children the opportunity to see and appreciate their own families, and to be open and respectful to those who are different from them.
  • At Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, students are mapping their school to locate the spaces where bullying takes place. After identifying the "bully hotspots," including the cafeteria, media lab, and locker rooms, students created a flash freeze demonstration to raise awareness about bullying, and opened the conversation about how to create a safer school.
  • After intermediate students share personal experiences, they decide to take action and invent the "Leaving a Positive Footprint" activity, where the pupils paint blue footprints with positive messages "walking" though their campus. Later, they work with first grade buddies to discuss bullying and speaking up, and together they make paper footprint cut-outs and create their own upstander messages to post around the school.
  • Not In Our Town: Class Actions profiles students and community members who are creating change in the wake of racism, anti-Semitism, and the traumatic consequences of bullying. Narrated by Survivor winner Yul Kwon, the half-hour documentary will debut on PBS stations in 2012.
  • Seventh graders at Orinda Intermediate School are taking a personal approach to the study of Islam by inviting Shajee Syed-Quadri to be a guest speaker in their world history class. As president of the Muslim Student Association at Irvington High School, Shajee shares stories about what it's like to be a typical American teenager and a practicing Muslim. This peer-to-peer program breaks down religious and cultural stereotypes, and provides the space for students to connect and learn from each other. This film is part of a series featuring Facing History and Ourselves.
  • Bullying: Unacceptable for an adult, unacceptable for a child. What will you do to stand up? Learn more about bullying solutions here: http://www.niot.org/blog/six-simple-solutions-bullying Produced by MAKE, a professional ad agency in Minneapolis, MN. Directed by Mike Nelson and donated to Not In Our Town.
  • Students at Watchung Hills Regional High School in New Jersey were fascinated when they heard about an Orange Out Against Bullying in Marshalltown, Iowa. When they got together, they decided to create their own "White-Out to Erase Bullying" event. The campaign took on the flavor of their community. Even the weather cooperated, blanketing the town with snow as high school leaders tied white ribbons on snow-laden trees and students led activities pledging not to be silent in the face of bullying at their high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. Even the mayor and city council members joined the effort.
  • The packed gymnasium erupted on a Tuesday night with applause as the Oakland High School varsity boys basketball team ran onto the court for the first home game of the season. The “No H8” basketball game was created by the students to honor Sasha Fleischman, a high school senior at nearby Maybeck High School in Berkeley, CA, who was badly burned after being set on fire while sleeping on a city bus, and to remind the local community that Oakland High is a school where diversity is celebrated and students stand up to injustice. This event is just one part of an ongoing Not In Our School campaign by Oakland High School.
  • When the Kansas hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps' family) announced they would picket Bay Area schools and Jewish institutions, students at Gunn High School decided they could not sit quietly. (3 min 34 sec) Check out our Local Lesson, Helping High Schoolers Take the Lead, which features an interview with Gunn High School Principal Noreen Likins.
  • The Coastside Armada Harley Club rolls into Peralta Elementary in Oakland, CA for the Not In Our School Launch Assembly, and students and bikers shatter stereotypes together. When the students learn that one biker likes to play dolls with his daughter, they realize that these bikers aren't so mean and scary after all.
  • Palo Alto, CA students use video to talk about discrimination.
  • Inspiring voices from the Not In Our Town Movement and why they care
  • San Francisco students find a creative response to hate.
  • Each year, Facing History teacher Jane Wooster asks the students in her classes to take on a "social action" project of their own choosing. This year, several of the students have chosen to conduct a lunch-time demonstration to draw attention to the use of the word "illegal" to describe undocumented immigrants, and start a school-wide conversation about the way immigrants are perceived in their community.
  • Thao, executive director of National Hmong American Farmers, immigrated to Fresno, CA with his family at age 8, after Laotian citizens were granted asylum in the US after the Vietnam war. Many of the first Hmong farmers suffered from discrimination, so Thao left his "cushy" job at the city of Fresno to ORGANIZE his community in a fight against injustice.
  • Here is an example of a student-led assembly at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland, CA. This assembly launched their schoolwide anti-bullying campaign. The students did a skit and talked about how to be an upstander as they took the lead in addressing bullying and intolerance. Students also learned how to be upstanders who work toward an accepting and identity safe school environment. Not In Our School developed a guide and sample skit for a similar assembly at the middle and high school levels. Learn more at niot.org
  • Gunn High School students challenge the use of the derogatory saying.
  • Olympia students speak out when Neo-Nazis organize in their town.
  • When Facing History teachers Jamie Lott and Mary Sok asked their World Cultures class about bullying at their school, the class described the hallways as safe. But after listening to a presentation given by hate crimes task force officer Dave D'Amico, they started a discussion about the widespread problem of online bullying, and how they as a class could take the first steps toward preventing it.
  • At Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, students are mapping their school to locate the spaces where bullying takes place. After identifying the "bully hotspots," including the cafeteria, media lab, and locker rooms, students created a flash freeze demonstration to raise awareness about bullying, and opened the conversation about how to create a safer school.
  • Each year, Facing History teacher Jane Wooster asks the students in her classes to take on a "social action" project of their own choosing. This year, several of the students have chosen to conduct a lunch-time demonstration to draw attention to the use of the word "illegal" to describe undocumented immigrants, and start a school-wide conversation about the way immigrants are perceived in their community.
  • Bullying: Unacceptable for an adult, unacceptable for a child. What will you do to stand up? Learn more about bullying solutions here: http://www.niot.org/blog/six-simple-solutions-bullying Produced by MAKE, a professional ad agency in Minneapolis, MN. Directed by Mike Nelson and donated to Not In Our Town.
  • On the edge of the Mojave Desert in California, educators, political leaders, and students join in a citywide Not In Our Town campaign as they face the dangers of bullying after teen suicides devastate two nearby towns. A local middle school counselor initiates this anti-bullying program for several districts with over 35,000 students where youth take the lead. This film features high school students mentoring younger students. It is the final segment in the PBS special, "Not In Our Town: Class Actions," which premiered nationally in Feb. 2012. For more information, visit http://www.niot.org/classactions
  • Shaw High School students use role play to discourage bullying.
  • Not In Our School (NIOS) has joined forces to fight bullying with Kitarah, Maverik, and Mateo, amazing artists from KutRoc Records who shared their anti-bullying song "Keep Your Head Up" for our summer NIOS Outreach Campaign.
  • Dorchester, MA students speak out against violence in their community.
  • Students and teachers creating new ways to make their schools safe for everyone.
  • Olympia students speak out when Neo-Nazis organize in their town.