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CRANBURY: Students rap about diversity

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — Interdisciplinary lessons about diversity inspired eighth-grader Nick Demola to write his own rap about bullying and perform it in front of his class during Diversity Week, then again in front of the Board of Education at its meeting Jan. 18.
   This year, Cranbury School teachers tried a new approach to Diversity Week, which was last October. They approached diversity from different angles in their social studies, literature and music classes, showing students how diversity is relevant to every subject — hoping to spread the message of the negative effects of bullying.
   At the Board of Education meeting Jan. 18, a handful of students explained to school officials how the new approach helped them.
   In a literature class, students read Kermit the Frog’s “It Isn’t Easy Being Green” by Jim Henson and learned how to embrace differences.
   Through the music of other cultures, students in music class also learned how folk songs sometimes can come across as more educated than the opinions of scholars.
   Toward the end of the presentation, Joanne Charwin, Cranbury School counselor, asked the school officials if they wanted to hear a rap written voluntarily by one of their students.
   ”I think we have to,” Lynne Schwarz, board president, responded.
   So the Diversity Week presentation was topped off by Nick rapping his own piece to the beat of Eminem’s “When I’m gone instrumental:”
    Why get bullied on your own time, in school, in the shop?
   Yeah it’s not right to get bullied to the top.
   Most of you pick on the ones that are different and don’t even stop.
   But here’s a small hint,
   We all are different.
   That’s what makes you, you and me, me.
   We got to stop this stuff, don’t you see?
   And that’s what makes diversity.
   This ain’t the media. This is reality.
   It’s what to be or not to be.
   This is sad to see.
   Just open the door, take a stand, say you want no more.
   I’m here to stop the sensation
   Of bullying all across the nation.
   I know what’s bad, yeah, I have a list.
   You gotta stop this stuff, like don’t be racist.
   Y’all can’t be ignorant.
   Just look through the mist.
   Yeah, you’re caught up in the steam.
   Tell the bullying victim not to lose self-esteem.
   Tell the bully that his insecurity is what makes him mean.
   If you see someone getting bullied, give a hand to him or her.
   Don’t be a bystander.
   All this bullying stuff don’t make any sense.
   Please, stand up if you’re done with this nonsense.
   Don’t let this stuff bring you down, take no offense.
   Listen to the lyrics, don’t just vibe to the beat.
   Okay, everyone please take a seat.
   Everyone get loose.
   It’s not right for anyone to take this kind of abuse.
   I want everyone to be able to agree.
   So just listen to me.
   I’m informing all of you,
   What’s going on in this world and what’s true.
   But it’s not like y’all never did it, it’s not new.
   I did this rap on my own time to sing, so just stop dat bullying.