Play addresses common preteen issues, with light touch

YERMO • Talking about puberty isn’t just a discussion for health class at Yermo School — it’s now taking center stage.

Yermo middle school students saw familiar scenarios played out on stage as a group of actors performed a play called “Someone Like Me” for the first time at Yermo School, addressing issues ranging from gossip and teenage sex, to depression and thoughts of suicide on Friday.

The story focused on four middle-schoolers dealing with issues like parents getting divorced and facing rumors of sexual promiscuity — all while their bodies are changing and maturing during puberty.

The actors, from Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Educational Theatre Programs, are part of a series of free educational shows that use drama to talk to students about issues like bullying, sexually transmitted disease prevention and nutrition and exercise.

While the young actors — all in their 20s, but dressed like their middle school audience — played out age-old scenarios like rumor mills and curiosity about sex, they related to their audience by using elements of the modern preteen vernacular: MySpace. Guitar Hero. Text messaging.

Seventh-grader Destiny Earl said that spreading rumors through mass text messages — which one character dealt with — is an issue students face at her school.

Earl said one of the main messages she took away was simple: “Don’t have intercourse in middle school,” the 12-year-old said.
Barbara Yniguez added that the play highlighted the risks of diseases and “getting your heart broken.”

The play encouraged students with questions or who have suicidal thoughts and need someone to talk with to call a help hotline, like the main character ended up doing.

But Yniguez said she’s seen what happens to friends that are going through tough times.

“They get really sad...they’re not themselves,” said the 13-year-old. “They talk to us.”

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4122 or elee@desertdispatch.com