Pressure to Belong to the ‘In Crowd’

If you couldn’t get a date for Valentine’s Day and you’re still feeling blue, you might want to skip John Stossel’s latest special.

“The In Crowd and Social Cruelty” (10 p.m. ABC) examines popularity and bullying in the schoolyard--and how the pressure to be cool can haunt us even as adults.

Interviews with schoolchildren, psychologists and educators help explain why some kids dish it out, why others take it and what can be done to make things better. At a kindergarten in Maine, a zero-tolerance policy on aggression has kept budding hooligans at bay; at other campuses with older children, peer mediation and role playing have eased tension, making school fun again for former outcasts.

“Everybody treats me nicer,” says bespectacled, big-eared Nick, no longer known as “Elf Boy.” “Now I like school,” a girl says. “I don’t even want to go on summer vacation.”

The show wanders when Stossel, a self-proclaimed former nerd, tries to use a personal touch to explore how childhood shapes the adults we become. In an awkward surprise reunion, he and a handful of his high school classmates gawk at their yearbook photos and lament how uncool they were.

Finally, Stossel heads to a chic New York night spot to see if he can glide past the velvet rope now that he’s on TV. Will the bouncer let him into the in crowd at long last--or smack him around a little, just on principle?