A group of high school students put their acting talents to work Monday to bring a message to elementary schoolers.

TIDE (Teens Involved in Drug Education), a troupe of older students who use mini-skits to start discussions about issues facing youth, asked sixth-graders at Halverson Elementary to consider the impact of bullying.

In a brief sketch, the performers portrayed a group who humiliated a fellow student. Then, that student took out his frustrations on a second, younger group. The actors and their adviser, high school techer Lori Nelson, then led a discussion with the students about what they saw.

&uot;If you bully someone, they’re probably going to use their anger on someone else,&uot; said Lisa Wichmann, a TIDE member.

The sixth-graders were asked to come up with ideas about how to prevent this &uot;cycle of bullying.&uot; Their ideas ranged from reporting it to teachers, to befriending the bullied peer, to telling the other students to lay off.

&uot;It’s really easy to follow the crowd; the hard thing is to do what’s right,&uot; Nelson told the students.

The TIDE students, who have performed upon request for students across the district, said they have taken on the role to help make a difference.

&uot;They need someone to look up to wh’s not too old, that they can look up to,&uot; said TIDE member Ziva Danneker.

&uot;I like to help little kids feel like not everybody looks down on them,&uot; said Erin Claussen.

TIDE grew from Target, a program of the Minnesota State High School League, which aims to develop leadership skills, promote healthy lifestyle choices and promote chemical-free activities. The students chose to participate in &uot;Improv,&uot; a program that uses theater and discussion to relay message. They attended a three-day Improv training session in January 2001.

For more information about TIDE, call Nelson at 379-5437.

Other participating students Monday were Laura Jackson, Nick Garcia, Krystle Garcia, Becky Birkhofer, Leah Boyer and Mat Estes.