Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry for Kids, Parents, and Teachers: A Fringe Benefits Project

For nearly two years, Fringe Benefits, a team of professional artists, teachers, parents and youth, have been working to concoct Cootie Shots, a delicious assortment of plays, songs and interactive performance pieces that promote tolerance and celebrate diversity by presenting role models of people of many different races, classes, genders, abilities, sexual orientations, religions, shapes and sizes. In all, Cootie Shots is comprised of about 50 2-15 minute educational plays for Elementary School audiences. The lessons covered are:
o Love is what makes a family
o Children should feel free to play with whatever toys appeal to them, study whatever subjects interest them and choose career paths unhindered by gender stereotypes
o Name-calling is never acceptable
o Putting people down because how they look and whom they love is neither kind nor fair.
The cast of characters includes:
Rapunzel
Rosa Parks
Cesar Chavez
Harvey Milk
Emily Dickinson
Alexander the Great
The Statue of Liberty
and more!