How to get a speaker for an anti-bullying school assembly program?

So by now you understand how much bullying is a problem in schools. Every time you turn on the news there’s another student committing suicide because of it or a group of kids yelling vulgar language at an assistant on the school bus.

Whatever the case you understand that it’s out of control and as a Principal, school Counselor, Teacher or PTA member, you want to do something on your campus but don’t know what to do.

Here are some suggestions that you can do.

• Have a teacher training workshop. But bring somebody in that works with teens, don’t read out of a manual
• Consider having two school assembly programs, one in the Fall and one in the Spring

Many school administrators don’t realize how easy it is to have an anti-bullying speaker come to your school. The main reason you want a speaker to address your students is because they become the neutral person who gets to say the hard things. Many times these speakers are saying the exact same things all the teachers are saying but they come off as cool and they making a living by connecting with teens and knowing how to deliver a message that will get across to them.

So how much does it cost to hire an anti-bullying speaker for a school assembly?

Before we tell you how affordable speakers are, let me give you some quick tips. Before you contact a speaker, do a little homework. I would call some of the other schools in your district and ask if they want to have bullying assemblies this year. We guarantee that somebody will be on board with the idea.

Then contact a credible speaker with the topic you want addressed (bullying, drug prevention, academic success) and ask them what their fees are. Mention to them that you have another school and to give a price for both schools.

Want  Fabian’s current speaking fee information?
Please contact Brandon Spinazzola for speaking fee structure.

We want nothing more than to help spread our anti-bullying message by proving a service that schools can afford. Plan your next school assembly and let us provide one of the best youth speakers in the nation, Fabian Ramirez.

For now, your school can download Fabian’s free anti bullying posters and start hanging them in your hallways or bulletin boards.

How to Respond to Bullies

When it comes to bullies we often tell kids that if they see someone getting bullied to intervene and stand up to them. However, we lack in showing kids how to do it right. I’m a bullying speaker and I show students how to respond to bullies by implementing the Golden Rule in their every day lives.

I believe that we can show kids how to respond using love and kindness, they will no longer be victims of bullying. I do this at school assemblies using humor before presenting serious information.

The Golden Rule

I help students understand the Golden Rule which is to treat others the way you want to be treated. The funny thing about this approach is that it’s designed to be used on people who are mean to you. That’s why it’s so effective when implemented the right way.

So I teach by role playing. The best way that people learn is by seeing a thought in action, I mean that’s how adults learn, they are trained to do their job. So the best way that Parents and Teachers can show kids how to respond to bullies is by role playing different situations they might find themselves in at school. For example, name calling happens a lot in schools and I like to show kids how to respond to name calling. I first tell kids that fights don’t start off as fights, there is something else that happens that escalates into a fight.

So most ongoing bullying can be eliminated by harnessing the golden rule. The reason why it works is because it’s hard to be mean to someone who is consistently nice to you. The keyword is consistent. The moment kids give in to a bully by responding with hate or violence, they win, they get what they want. So I teach students to respond with love and kindness and bullies will leave them alone. Not only that, but some bullies will become friends with the people who are nice to them. We all know that hurt people hurt people and some bullies are hurting and they just want somebody to be nice to them. They are willing to push people away but if we teach kids to stand their ground and show them love and respect, it just might be what was needed for them to turn their lives around. Always remember that Love is Greater than hate. Remember to tell Principals about my anti-bullying program and to invite me to be a guest speaker at their schools.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

No Place For Hate | Walt Clark Middle School | Loveland, Colorado

After visiting Walt Clark Middle School in Loveland, CO, I am very encouraged. The students on the campus were well behaved and they welcomed me like a celebrity. I admire when students take the time to listen and reach out to me because I want to then give them more than what they ask for.

On this campus there are 11 members on the No Place For Hate club. At each presentation I encouraged students to be a part of the program because students are learning how to loving and respectful to each other. The more we can teach students to show love and respect, the better off we will be as a society. Emilia, the event planner who happens to be the art teacher, was telling me about two suicides that were recent in the district. One was due to a bad breakup but she mentioned that the other could be traced to bullying.

A lot of kids have been hurting themselves due to bullying and now that the Bully Movie has come out it shines light to why students are killing themselves, a term being thrown around is committing Bullycide. I don’t think there is anything better than student led organizations on campus. Adults can have programs for students but when kids can invite other kids to be a part of something big on campus, it helps develop the leaders that we need. So three assemblies took place at the middle school and each of them address the issue of bullying and how to reduce it on campus. I was able to share about how love is great than hate and I showed teens how to respond to bullies using love and kindness, basically implementing the Golden Rule. Everywhere I speak I asked teens if they know what the Golden Rule is, and so far it’s been 100% of the schools that I go to, they know exactly what it means, treat others the way you want to be treated. I just show them what that looks like in their lives.

Bully Movie Review

The Bully movie is a dark film that portrays the life of 5 kids who are bullied at school. From the beginning the director does not hold back on releasing footage that makes the emotions of any individual run wild.

You start off watching home videos of a little boy having a good time on camera. The next scene is of a father talking about that boy and how he was a good kid. He goes on to point out how he was being bullied at school and as a result the boy took his own life. Later we get to see the closet in which the boy hung himself.

The movie did paint school administrators as weak and unwilling to put a stop to bullying. Even when questioning kids that were reported to be picking on another students, one of the school counselors told the student that if he continues to misbehave that she was going to report it and put it in his disciplinary folder. The response came off comic as many in the theater chuckled as if they were in unison for wanting a harsher action toward the kid. When kids know the consequences for their behavior is weak and tolerate, they weigh out those consequences and decide that getting in trouble is okay. They must be told how they can really be reprimanded.

For example, one of the girls in the film decided that she was going to take her mom’s gun to school and ended up pulling the gun out on the bus and waved it as the teens who were picking on her. Well her actions caused her to get 40+ accounts of kidnapping because of that incident. She ended up having all the charged dropped but she could’ve received a sentence of over 100 years behind bars because of that.

Bullying is psychological, it messes with your mind. It makes you do some crazy things. It’s no wonder that 71% of school shooters were bullied at school. Even in the film, one of the main kids said his friends choke him, call him the “B” word and his reaction is to cover for them and say that they’re just playing around. He became immune to bullying. We definately don’t want our students to think that they deserve to be hit or worse that it’s their fault that kids pick on them.

What the Bully movie is missing

The movie does a good job at showing the problem among kids and school administrators and city officials. What the movie does not do is give a better idea of how to help students. I’m a parent and it leaves me scared out of my mind to even think about sending my child to school. In fact as I was leaving the theater I overheard a lady say, “well now I’m scared that my son is going to kill himself”. So you walk away with a feeling that if my kid is being picked on, then my kid may kill themselves.

I would’ve liked to see more about how to walk kids through bullying, how to teach kids how to respond to bullies. My biggest weapon against bullying to teaching kids how to repond to misbehavior. If we can teach kids how to respond to bullies, they will be able to stand up for themselves and others.

Instead we tell kids to intervene when they see another kid get picked on and we forget to empower and equip them on how to do so. The ending of the movie was starting to get good as it showed rallies in different citites to combat bullying but again all it did was raise the fact that kids are killing themselves, and yes it said that we need to be a voice for kids, but students need techniques on how to respond to bullies. Implementing the Golden Rule is one of the best ways in which we can show kids how to respond to bullies. My hope is that in a follow-up film, students are taught how to respond and then filmed on implementing what they learn. In the meantime, kuddos to director Lee Hirsch for raising awareness about bullying in schools. Parents, Teachers, School officials, Families, it takes all of our involvement to keep schools a safe place for children.

Here is the trailer to the movie that I recommend parents take their teens to see so they can start a conversation about bullying at their school:

Casey Heynes Bodyslams Bully at School

Casey Heynes, a 15 year old had enough. He was constantly getting bullied at school and he finally snapped and let his bully have it. Casey picked up his tormentor and body slammed him to the ground. All of this was caught on film and the video has now gone viral.

Of course everyone who has ever been bullied sides with Casey for standing up for himself. But so many students around world do not stand up to bullies and constantly get harassed as school. School bullying in America is a growing issue and it’s time that we all help put a stop to it.

Hire a school bullying speaker to talk to your students about how to change the culture of the school.

J’Rose Mean Kids Bullying Video

Just finished watching a bullying video by J’Rose called Mean Kids. I really like the message in the video and for a 9 year old to sing it to her peers takes a lot of courage.

I hope that classrooms everywhere can use this video as a way to engage their students on school bullying. This will be a great way to start a coversation about the subject. Students will not bring up the subject even though it’s the elephant in the room but if an adult can facilitate the conversation, student will open up about it.

Schools need to be more proactive in keeping children safe at school and since bullying is such an epidemic, it’s going to take a lot of reminding and reassuring that school is a safe place to be.

J'Rose Mean Kids Bullying Video

Is school safe for students?

Elementary school girl being bullied

To the parents of school aged children:

Without a doubt, schools are a safe place and they offer your children a place to socialize with other students and school remains to be  a place where young leaders are nurtured to become leaders of tomorrow. With that said every school around the world deals with bullying.

The truth is that students pick on each other at school and outside of school. There is no telling how a student is affected by their environment when they are away from school. There is a good chance that a school bully doesn’t get in trouble at home for hitting and making fun of siblings. Most parents take action when their child is misbehaving, but how many times have kids gotten away with hitting another person or calling somebody a bad name or used bad language.

Parents need to know that students get bullied at school every day and that’s why it’s vital to have open discussions with their children. Parents keep in mind that getting picked on is embarrassing for the student and rarely do they start the conversation about it. Parents should ask their student if they have ever been bullied or if they are currently being bullied. If the answer is no, the next question to ask is if anybody in the class is a bully. Students love to talk about other students and this would be a good way to get information about other students. As a parent, you could be used to help stop other kids from being picked on by presenting the information you gather to school administrators.

When parents drop off their students at school they assume that all is well with their child. Parents know their children better than anyone else so they should be the first to pick up on something being wrong. If a student doesn’t want to talk about their situation, give them a little space and try again at a later time.

No matter what school a student attends, he/she should be able to be productive in a safe learning environment.

Bullying Prevention Week in October | Unity Day

The first week in October every year is known as bullying prevention week in America and around the world. Communities and schools are teaming up to raise awareness about bullying. The National Center for Bullying Prevention organization is setting October 20, 2012 as a date in which schools can address bullying on campuses worldwide. It’s also being known as “Unity Day” and students are being asked to unite against bullying.

Fabian Ramirez is a youth speaker that speaks to students about school bullying. He can bring an awareness to any middle or high school campus. Consider booking him at your next school assembly.
There are different ways in which a person is bullied

The most known behavior is school bullying. For one that is when students are the most vulnerable because they are away from their parents and even though they are with teachers and school administrators, they are too busy to keep an eye on every child. Research shows that teachers catch bullying activity 1 out of 25 times and this is because the average time for bullying is 37 seconds. Not only that but bullying is not daily like many people think, it’s 2-3 times a month.

Another form of bullying that is becoming popular among teens is cyberbullying. Students are turning to the internet where there is almost no supervision and picking on other students through social media networks such as Facebook , Myspace and Twitter. It gets really difficult to stop cyber bullying because adults have to be friends with students in order to see their messages. A tip for students is to have them print out any vulgar text that they feel violate their human rights and show an adult.

Text messaging is becoming a way in which students spread false rumors about another person. This is an indirect method of bullying but it is still a form of bullying.

Many adults want to get the students in a room and try to resolve differences as if it is conflict. This doesn’t work because bullying is abuse, not conflict so that’s why this method tends to only progress the behavior.

Laws in some states have been put in place to protect students from further bullying. A child can now attend schools outside of their school zone if the school district approves a parents request to do so.

The best way to stop school bullies is to adopt a zero tolerance rule on campus and bring awareness to your school. Put a buddy system in place where students can look out for each other and report all bullies immediately before their behavior gets out of hand. Students become less of a target when students stay in groups of two or more when bullies are around.

Also a student must have opportunities to anonymously tell a teacher when they are being bullied either through a letter or a counselor on site without being reprimanded.

Middle and High Schools are encouraged to hire a youth speaker to act as a neutral person to address school bullying and tell students about the consequences that come with bullying. Contact a speaker today and book them during the month of October and do your part in preventing bullying.

Using Karate Kid to Teach Kids About Bullying

Recently, I was able to speak to a group of kids about bullying. Since the new Karate Kid movie was released over the weekend I used the characters in the movie to explain bullying. The group was made up of school age kids from first grade to fifth grade.

It was the first day of summer camp at the recreation center in Fort Worth, TX and the kids were fired up. Some of the kids were excited that I was there to speak to them and lay down the ground rules for the camp and staff. When it comes to young kids you never know if they fully understand the points that you are trying to get across.

After the presentation I had a small child come up to me and ask me a question about bullying and ask why people get scared of bullies. He obviously asked in a way where he was scared that he would one day be bullied by a  kid. I told him not to worry but if somebody hits you and don’t like the way you are being treated, I told him to report it to an adult. He smiled and went about his business.

I asked the children in attendence that day who saw the Karate Kid over the weekend about half of them did. This was good because in the movie, the character Dre was getting picked on by some Chinese kids, one in particular bullied him everywhere he went. Since bullying messes with a person’s psyche, Dre did some things that regular kids wouldn’t want to do, like learn kung fu. Turns out the reason why he wanted to learn was so that he can use it to defend himself against the school bullies in the movie.

That day I told the children that in reality, Dre should’ve told his mom or an adult at school. In fact there was a scene where Dre was about to tell a school official but decided not to tell. When it comes to the safety of the children, adults must create an environment where children always feel safe. School is supposed to be a place where learning occurs and when that is not happening, there must be change.