Don't Laugh at Me

This program designates camp as a ridicule-free zone, and was established by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary, in collaboration with Marla Coleman. Knowing that the core culture of the camp experience has always been a community of caring, compassions, and cooperation, Peter gave song and extra heart to those efforts. By harnessing the power of music and art to transform, inspire, and build skills in children, Peter created the “Don’t Laugh at Me” project.

Children from Coleman Family Camps journeyed to Washington, D.C. to promote the program to legislators—they performed on Capitol Hill and added sign language to bring to life the passion of the words of the song. “Don’t Laugh at Me” has become the anthem of Coleman Country.

Not only do our campers know the words and the signs, they live the essence of the program, which focuses on giving children the experiences of learning in a caring community that is characterized by a healthy expression of feelings, compassion, and cooperation; the creative resolution of conflicts, and an appreciation of differences. The activities, which Marla helped create, are designed to give camps tools and to raise awareness, to explore feelings, and to help children connect to themselves and to one another.

“Don’t Laugh at Me” was a result of an alliance among leading organizations working in the fields of character education, conflict resolution, and diversity education including Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) and the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program.

At Coleman Family Camps, children are committed to ending name-calling, teasing, put-downs, and other unkind behaviors.

Putting An End to Bullying

The roots of uncaring behavior – of bullying, taunting, and teasing – are complex. Sometimes other children are passing on the hurt they have experienced – bottled up now into unresolved feelings of grieving, fear, anger, or sadness. Children who bully or hurt others, as well as their targets, can get stuck on these patterns; they need caring adults to help them break out of these roles.

Motivating Social Change

The “Don’t Laugh at Me” project has guidelines to create an anti-bias camp; ways to foster inclusion, create diverse groups, acknowledge differences, prevent exclusion, extend thinking, empower children, and avoid activities that exclude.

Some of our tactics include: “turning the problem over,” giving starters, paraphrasing, validating feelings, giving time to cool off, promoting creative solutions, bringing conflict to closure, and evaluating solutions.Drawing on his contributions as a folk singer and activist, Peter observes that “the ethic behind songs of conscience doesn’t change.” The same pulse that energized the civil rights movement of the 1960s fuels this grassroots crusade in the 2000s.