When Timothy hears Dwayne bullying Simone for being too thin, then Simone calling Dwayne "gross," Timothy explains it is important to be kind to oneself and others.

The pair take the advice to heart, and before long Simone, the walkingstick, and Dwayne, the dung beetle, are friends who -- as is typical in children's tales even for insects -- live happily ever after.

The 45-minute traveling hand puppet show, developed at Bethel Park Public Library to combat bullying among youngsters, is "Don't Bug Me."

About 18 libraries hosted performances this summer, with one scheduled at Brentwood Public Library at 10:30 a.m. this morning.

The target audience is preschool through grade school.

"You could always sense on faces at this time of year who was anxious about going back, or starting, school," said the Rev. Ingrid Kalchthaler, head of youth services at the library, who wrote the show's script.

According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001, about 30 percent of all students in grades 6 through 10 have been bullied or have bullied other children.

Verbal bullying is the most common type, with boys more likely to be physically bullied by other boys. Girls are more likely than boys to bully each other using social exclusion.

Unlike their parents, today's children also face the threat of cyber bullying, which involves the Internet, mobile phones or other cyber technology to send mean e-mail or post nasty pictures.

The "Stop Bullying Now!" program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration reports that bullied children are more likely to be depressed, lonely, anxious, have low self-esteem, feel unwell and think about suicide.

The Rev. Kalchthaler and Karen Hathaway, the library's programming specialist who made the puppets, hope to perform their anti-bullying shows in school districts throughout the year, starting in their own back yard.

"This is the first time we're looking at the K-12 response," Bethel Park School District Assistant Superintendent Nancy Aloi Rose said about the districtwide commitment to anti-bullying. There is an in-service day today on the issue.

"As educators, we are aware of the impact bullying has on children," she said.

"Our primary goal is to make sure the school environment is healthy and conducive to learning for all children," she said.

New this year in kindergarten through grade 6 is the training of all teachers, support staff, and parent leaders in the Bullying Prevention Program, the goals of which are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among schoolchildren and to improve peer relations at school.

The district received the goods and services for the program through the HALT bullying program, which is part of the Highmark Healthy High 5 children's health promotion initiative of the Highmark Foundation.

James Bozigar, of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, who is the Western Pennsylvania Regional Director for HALT, trained teams in each school, with each team then becoming the local expert on bullying prevention.

The program's core components include adoption of schoolwide rules against bullying, involvement of parents, and interventions with bullies and bullied students.

At Independence Middle School, Principal David Muench said while teachers and staff were always cognizant of bullying, they are trying this year "to get at things that affect kids over a lifetime, such as persistent name calling," he said.

A real focus will be "activating the bystander," he said, for which an e-mail address will be set up for reporting bullying, and boxes will be erected in the building for dropping in concerns.

"Everyone is trying to fit in," he said of seventh- and eighth-graders, an age group in which a "pecking order" becomes more prevalent.

"That will leave some kid excluded and some kid the target. I would argue that nobody has to go through that," he said.

For more, call Mr. Bozigar at 412-638-6800. To schedule a puppet presentation, contact the library at 412-835-2207.