CRANBERRY TWP — Kids can be cruel, but adults can be worse if childhood bullying isn't addressed. This was the thought Mary Ann Mangini of Cranberry Township kept in mind when she wrote the original music and script for the anti-bullying show, “You Are Worth It.”

The show features local youths and will premiere at the beginning of this school year to kick off an anti-bullying campaign with a series of shows at Haine and Connoquenessing Valley elementary schools in the Seneca Valley School District.

“A couple springs ago I wrote an anti-bullying show for the kids,” Mangini said, “and it just caught on so well that we had the idea (to) take this into schools.”

Mangini said she thought it would be “very poignant” for the children to perform the show.

“The coolest thing for me to watch is these young kids performing for their peers,” Mangini said. “We took this show to Haine Middle School last year, and it was so effective. They were leaving the auditorium singing the songs.”

The Fantastix, Mangini's show choir group of 16 youths ages 10 to 17, is a community program entering its fourth season. Mangini likened the group to a theater school because she teaches vocal technique and acting strategies. Group members perform around the area at different nursing homes, Light Up Night in Pittsburgh and Kennywood.

Seneca Valley School District students Dalryn Schuster, 14, Greta Schmidt, 14, and Avery Flood, 13, are among the “bullies” in the performance.

All three of the girls participated in the first anti-bullying production the Fantastix put on and have parents who teach or have taught in the school district.

“Many people loved the first one,” Dalryn said.

Greta said she hopes the show has another positive impact on the community.

Each of the girls said they have seen bullying firsthand or even been subjected to it.

Avery is the daughter of Mickey Flood, who teaches health to seventh and eighth grade students at Ryan Gloyer Middle School. She said she was bullied because her dad teaches in the school district.

Dalryn and Greta said they'd had similar experiences in which other students said they received higher marks for having parents who teach.

“It's something teachers need to see, too,” Dalryn said. “Not that there's a ton of bullying in the school, but when something is happening, they need to be able to recognize it.”

Dalryn said she there is more potential to reach students who need to hear those things when they're young — noting the target audience is the elementary school crowd.

“It's hard when you don't fit in any clique,” she said. “It's much easier in high school because you can spend time with people from different cliques. You aren't stuck in the same class.”

All the girls agreed that their parents were excited to see their performance and proud of them for trying to make an impact on reducing bullying.

The first performances will take place for students, teachers and parents on Friday at Haine. The second performance will be Sept. 7 at St. Stephen's Church in Sharon, and the third set of performances will be for students, teachers and parents Sept. 13 at Connoquenessing.

The musical was inspired by something Mangini wrote a few springs ago, but she said she adjusted the program to the length of a school assembly, which is about 45 minutes to an hour.

The show traces two stories: Ricky, the new boy, is physically bullied while Laurie, a little girl, faces more verbal and emotional abuse from other girls.

“This show features bullying of all ages — even on the teacher level,” Mangini said. “It also addresses cyber bullying with Facebook.”

Mangini said the two stories intertwine at the end, and audience members are given the chance to answer questions that change the outcome.

“We kind of have a rewind feature to go back and play it again with one character behaving differently, such as reporting rather than being a bystander,” Mangini said.

“It's all about kindness and teaching our kids about kindness,” Mangini said. “We take audience suggestions, but we show them an end result that is more positive because of that one person's suggestion to behave differently.”

Fantastix rehearses year-round and has one cabaret-type show around Christmas and one musical in the spring along with “little gigs” around the community, according to Mangini. The group performed “Footloose” the musical for three weekends in June.