Singing for Schoolyard Peace

By Ann Williams
Special to The Lookout

May 9 -- Though the breeze was cool, the mood was warm and friendly on the grassy playground at Franklin Elementary School Friday evening as hundreds of children and their parents picnicked and frolicked during a free concert by Peter Yarrow of the famed folk trio Peter Paul & Mary.

As the sun went down, children huddled in sleeping bags and quilted blankets, arms around each other, while others sang and danced, giving the gathering the look of a kiddie Woodstock.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Yarrow, along with his daughter Bethany, had come with a serious message.

Yarrow talks with the children. (Photos by Gene Williams)

The Yarrows wanted to introduce Santa Monica to Operation Respect -- a non-profit organization they founded which uses classic folksongs to foster gentleness and respect to combat bullying and ridicule among children.

“We’ve lost a great deal of the sweetness and humanity we once had,” he told his audience, connecting the pain of ridicule, depression, -- even child suicide -- to an expanding cycle of violence that ultimately leads to war.

Yarrow’s no stranger to using his music to advance progressive causes. In spite of a lighthearted, easy style that made for commercial success, Peter Paul & Mary were notable for their ability to convey hard messages about war and social injustice to mainstream listeners.

Bethany, who has sung with her father since she was a little girl, said he became inspired to create the anti-bullying program by a song she had heard at a festival called “Don’t Laugh At Me,” written by Allen Shamblin and Steve Seskin.

But it wasn’t until the student killings at Columbine shocked the nation that her father realized just how important his cause was, she said. Then it “kind of snowballed.”

The program is “growing like topsy,” said Peter, citing its recent adoption in schools as far afield as Hong Kong and Ontario.

He said he’s given 450 presentations to 400,000 people, and the program has been recognized by the House of Representatives and organizations including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

When asked why Franklin School was selected, given the cooperative behavior of the children in evidence Friday evening, Yarrow said the school under Principal Pat Samarge was an “ideal laboratory” to do “advance work” as a model for other schools in the district to emulate.

His eyes lit up with delight when he described meeting the kids that morning, saying they were “so engaged, so accessible….so much more alert to issues of fairness and justice.”

An intense, expressive man, who gives unswerving eye contact, Yarrow punctuates his speech with gentle touches on the hand and arm of his listener, as if to say, I’m here, I feel you, you are important to me.

His manner is consistent with his message of compassion and was especially vivid when, during an interview before the concert, he denounced “shame-based reality shows” which people laugh at, “which is a terrible thing to do.”

After warming up the evening audience with song and humor, he selected ten eager students to sing Puff the Magic Dragon with him from a hubbub of young fans who rushed the stage. Bethany passed the mike around to pick up their lusty, out-of-tune but joyful voices.

And no, Yarrow said, “There’s no subtext” to the song “other than the obvious meaning.” Which is? “When you grow up you may not believe in dragons but you can believe in peace.”

As the children sang, the sun set behind them like a stage light, making silhouettes of the kids, arms raised and waving.

Yarrow taught them how to make a peace sign and encouraged the grown ups to join.

Teasing the adults, he said, “It’s a test to see if the parents still have the courage and determination” -- here he paused looking serious -- “to get arrested.” Everyone laughed.

The evening took a poignant turn when Yarrow told the audience that Mary Travers had been diagnosed with leukemia, and it was the 7th day after her bone marrow treatment.

Introducing their hit song “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” he asked the audience to sing along, sending their thoughts and prayers to her.

Shortly after that, Yarrow called the kids back up to the front of the stage to sing the anthem of Operation Respect: “Don’t Laugh at Me.” The children sang the lyrics they’d learned that morning with real conviction, bringing their message home:

“Don’t laugh at me
Don’t call me names
Don’t get your pleasure from my pain
In God’s eyes we’re all the same
Someday we’ll all have perfect wings
Don’t laugh at me.”

More information on Operation Respect