Through his stage productions of "Box Out Bullying," Jeremy Rubenstein has shared his message about bullying across the country and positively impacted thousands of lives. Now, it seems that the next logical step in Rubenstein's 18-year journey of inspiration would be to bring that message home to Lancaster County.

"I think this is something that everybody has a story with," said Rubenstein, who has backgrounds in education, theater and basketball. "They've been bullied, they've witnessed bullying or they've (been bullies) themselves. Children are going to mimic the people they love. With something as serious as bullying, we can't have mixed messages. One of the messages we teach is that even people who exhibit bullying behavior need help too. We want to create empathy. This is something that's full of hope."

Rubenstein and his small traveling troupe, which includes two versatile actors, present versions of "Box Out Bullying" about 300 times annually, in places like California, New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Utah and Nashville. The 45-minute educational and entertaining presentations are tailored to their audiences and performed at elementary schools, middle schools, theaters, performing arts centers and community centers.

But "Box Out Bullying" has only been staged a handful of times in Lancaster County, most recently in East Earl in September of 2024.

"Not as many as I'd like," said Rubenstein, when asked about the number of times his message has been presented locally. "The issues kids are facing here in Lancaster aren't unique. But the cool thing is that the solutions are the same. We'd love to do more shows in Lancaster.

"Do people know about this?" added Rubenstein. "We could definitely do a better job of letting people know about this. I'm very careful about the product we put forward. These are kids; they're very impressionable. I wish they did know about me. People who have us once keeping on booking us year after year."

The stage presentations of "Box Out Bullying" revolve around characters and cousins Tom and Jerry and are designed to identify what constitutes bullying and what doesn't. The message is clear, but room is left for creative interpretation.

"There's a script, and the plot follows the trials and tribulations of Tom and Jerry," said Rubenstein. "There's no fourth wall in the show, and when the actors come out, they're continuously interacting with the audience. There's a box in the middle of the stage; it has all the answers to bullying inside of it, but it's locked. With each lesson learned, a lock pops off the box. When the audience figures it out, the box will open and inside is the answer.

"You've got to see the show to find out the answer," Rubenstein continued. "It's a very big box, but the answer is very small, and it's been in front of the audience the whole time. There's a difference between accidents and conflicts and bullying. We want to give students different tools while teaching them grit and resilience."

Rubenstein is a 2002 graduate of Manheim Township and currently resides in Manheim Township with his growing family. In 2025, Rubenstein received the Manheim Township School District's Distinguished Alumni award.

"We know that bullying doesn't just affect the school but also the community," said Rubenstein. "When I started this in 2008, bullying might have been just a whisper. People liked that it was research-based. Now, we are addressing this for the high school level. We're developing new curriculum. We're trying to build on this even more. We'd like to be well known. I'm very optimistic with how this is going. The message is there is hope.

"This is still a local story," Rubenstein concluded.

For additional information, go to http://www.boxoutbullying.com.