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The Bully in the Blue Coat

A story, and what it's really about

Play this lessonNarrated out loud. No account, works offline.

Also available in Spanish. The app stops after two lessons a day and suggests something to do away from the screen.

What it teaches

These are the lines the lesson comes back to, and the ones a child actually remembers afterwards.

The laughing is the fuel.

You don't have to be brave. Just don't laugh.

Telling is not tattling.

How it starts

This one is a story. It is not a true story about real people, but everything in it happens somewhere every single day, so listen to it like it is true, because for somebody it is.

How the lesson goes

And then the part that mattered

  1. Two kids laughed
  2. Three kids looked at the ground
  3. Nobody said anything

What four words did

  1. Nobody laughed the second time
  2. The boy in the blue coat went quiet
  3. Malik came to school the next day

If it's happening to you

  1. It is not because of anything you are
  2. Tell a grown-up — that is not tattling
  3. Keep telling until somebody does something

The question at the end

Someone says something mean about another kid and everyone laughs. What helps most?

For the grown-up

Every lesson ends by handing the child something to do off the screen, and telling you what was taught so you can use the same words.

Try this today: Find someone at school or on your street who's on their own, and go stand next to them. You don't have to say anything clever — just be there.

Then: Tell a grown-up one thing you noticed about how other kids treated each other today.

More in Other Kids

The whole library is free

Twenty-four narrated lessons for ages 4 to 9, in English and Spanish. No account, no sign-up, no ads, and nothing your child does in the app ever leaves the device — you can check that yourself with the network tab open. Open the lessons.