Children's Museum Ryan White exhibit offers bullying lessons

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A couple dozen curious kids crowded into Ryan White's bedroom at The Children's Museum for a lesson on bullying.

White, who died 25 years ago of complications from AIDS, has been memorialized in this permanent exhibit, which includes his bed, backpack, stuffed animals and GI Joes.

"Look around this room," Heather Stephenson told the young students. "I love being in here, but the first time I came in, I cried like a baby."

That's because Stephenson was a close friend of White's as a student at Hamilton Heights High School in the 1980s. She saw the pain he suffered, heard the stories of bullying and discrimination that he and his family endured when the disease was little understood.

White was 13 when he contracted HIV-AIDS through a tainted blood treatment and was prevented from attending school in the Kokomo area for a while. His family eventually moved to Cicero, where he enrolled at Hamilton Heights. He died at age 18 but not before attracting the attention and friendship of celebrities like Michael Jackson and Elton John.

As his friend, Stephenson also felt the brunt of people's fear and anger. Strangers threatened to burn down her family's house. She lost babysitting clients. It taught her a thing or two about standing up to bullying.

"People were afraid, they were uneducated. But Ryan White really changed the world. He made us look at things differently."

Outside this room, hundreds more fifth- through eighth-graders were participating in breakout sessions as part of the Stand Up Against Bullying summit, an annual program at the museum that this year featured keynote speaker Travis "Mr. MoJo" Brown.

"You have the power to help people, and you have the power to hurt people," Brown told the rambunctious students gathered in Lilly Theater at the museum.

He told them about a girl who was tormented on the school bus because of her weight. "The other kids were ringing cowbells one morning, calling her fat and ugly. She did the only thing she could think to do at the time. She laughed."

But it wasn't funny. When Brown's mother told him that story, he realized she was talking about herself.

"I was so mad, I wished I could have been on that bus, not to fight somebody, but so I could look at her and say 'you're beautiful just the way you are,'" he told the students.

Brown grew up in Lafayette, the biracial son of a single mom. He knows how it feels to be called out for being different. Now a Fishers resident with a family of his own, he travels the country, speaking to NFL teams, schools and other groups about bullying.

He challenged the students at Monday's assembly to "get in the game. You are here for a reason, and that is to help people. It doesn't matter what people say or do to you, it can never change your value."

So Tuesday morning, when they head back to school, he asked that they stand up for kids who may need a friend.

"Don't be hatin' on people, that ain't even cool," Brown said. And just as importantly, he told the students, don't let negative voices get in your head.

"It's important that we don't become our own punching bags. It's important that we're on our own side."

Back in Ryan's room at the museum, the youth were fascinated by White's story, his friendship with superstars and what he might have liked to do when he grew up.

"He loved cars, but Ryan just wanted to make a difference," Stephenson said. "And he did. I want you to come back, learn more about him and tell others his story.

"Walk out of here and make a difference in the world."

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Source: The Indianapolis Star, http://indy.st/1WgFFAQ

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com