Mental Health Speakers for School Assemblies

It’s no secret that the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health and well-being of students across America. Organizations can help their communities by hiring mental health speakers for school assemblies and applying for school grants to offset expenses.

Physical Health Versus Mental Health

When people bring up the subject of health, many are quick to think about physical health. The clear reason for this is simple, it’s an external variable that people can see. However, the bigger issue is what cannot be see, the internal gauge that often produces the external…mental health.

As a top mental health speaker for school assemblies myself, I often address the issues that we all struggle with inside. I go into a character that is limping as I walk. I tell the audience that if you saw me walking down the street that they would think that I may need medical attention, and they would be correct. I then remind them how many people are walking around limping themselves mentally and emotionally, but since we cannot see it, we cannot address it and the person hurting can disguise their pain.

People who are mentally unhealthy often pretend to be okay around groups of people. Only those who have learned to voice their emotions will state when they are not okay. Communicating emotions is a learned behavior and mental health experts will tell you that it’s important to learn to do it.

Venting Out Emotions

Venting is a common way to communicate emotions. I teach my audiences how venting is transferring your emotions into words, pictures or actions. Every person vents differently, but the idea is to not let emotions continue to build up, finding a release is necessary and healthy.

I talk to my own kids about Fred Rogers and his famous quote, “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary.”

The idea is that there’s always a way out of any situation that they may find themselves in. How cool would it be for every student to have a caring adult in their life say to them that no matter the situation you may find yourself in, there’s a way out of it and that they can work it out together. Students are happier when they know they have the love and support from an adult.

Students Need Caring Adults

This is why parents are crucial. This is why mentorships are vital. A supported child has a high chance of becoming a mentally healthy adult.

As a speaker, I’m often trying to break through some hard hearts of students from years of being abandoned by the adults in their lives. I come in and speak like a big brother and a loving adult and kids start to open up and feel heard. It’s amazing how many students will want to just hang out afterwards. Yes, some will want to share about their home life and the struggles that they have, but most just want to say thank you as a way of saying, you know my struggles and you put them into words and helped me to see that there’s always a way out.

If your school has never hired a mental health speaker for a school assembly, get in touch with us and let us serve your school. Students are ready to take steps towards becoming emotionally and mentally healthy.

First Lady Melania Trump To Tackle Cyberbullying

Photo By Wired.com

Two days before her husband Donald Trump was elected to become the 45th President of the United States of America, Melania Trump made an announcement that as first lady, she would tackle Cyberbullying as one of her issues.

First Ladies have a history of working towards issues that are close to their hearts. Former First Lady Laura Bush fought to improve literacy and Michelle Obama helped to make families healthy.

Melania Trump is already being criticized for picking cyberbullying as an issue to combat because her husband Donald Trump has been known to post mean tweets on his twitter account. Maybe this could be the reason why she has chosen to combat bullying. We do know that Melania used to be a fashion model and I’m sure she has stories about being bullied as a young girl.

In her speech before the election, Melania addressed the crowd by saying, “It is never OK when a 12-year-old girl or boy is mocked, bullied or attacked. It is terrible when it happens on the playground, and it is absolutely unacceptable when it is done by someone with no name hiding on the internet. We have to find a better way to talk to each other,” Melania Trump said.

Yes, this may seem like an uphill battle but as an anti bullying speaker in this country, I’ve seen some improvement over the years. Bullying is an internal issue. Too many people are walking around wounded with psychological scars that have never been dealt with. My message is simple, hurt people, hurt people, but healed people, heal people. I feel so strongly about this message that I give free anti bullying posters to schools. I hope that Melania will focus on ways to help young people deal with the emotional and psychological scars that they have so they can stop transferring their hurts onto others.

I’m excited that the First Lady will tackle bullying on playgrounds and social media because our children deserve to be safe offline and online.

A Bullying Speaker You Can Trust

Have you ever invited a speaker to speak to your students about a sensitive topic and they totally bombed? I have. I used to be an event planner and I know how difficult it is to bring in a motivational speaker that can really hold the attention of your students and still relay a powerful message.

I have over 12 years of experience speaking to students and working with event planners to make sure they have a successful event. When I speak in schools I take a lot into consideration. My team works with every event planner to get details about the event and about the community. These extra details are why counselors have made me one of the most requested anti bullying speakers in the nation.

For one, I know that a lot of teachers dislike school assemblies because they feel it takes away from class time. The message they are sending is due to the fact that the program in the past has not been as strong as they expected. In my presentations, I make sure to speak to students, but also have teaching moments for teachers and counselors.

I also know how hard it is to trust a speaker from the outside. I must say, this is why I like to speak personally to all event planners so they can feel comfortable with the message that I’m going deliver and I get a better idea of the goals for the event. I also like to know the demographics of the school so that I use jokes that can help me relate to the audience.

So before you invite a motivational speaker to speak to your youth, do research on the speaker, read or watch speaker testimonials to see what others had to say about them and see if that person fits within your budget. Once you feel that you can trust a certain speaker, bring them to your school and have a successful school assembly.

Fabian has many resources for you to use in the classroom. One of those resources is a set of free anti bullying posters that you can print and hang on your wall today.

Blue Shirt Day™ – Bullying Awareness

As a bullying speaker, I get to speak at various schools and celebrate national holidays and themes. In October, I was able to speak during Blue Shirt Day™. This is a day in which celebrities, schools and organizations wear a blue shirt in an effort to raise awareness of bullying.

I spoke at three school assemblies in Massachusetts. Most of the faculty and staff were wearing their blue shirt and the students had the option to wear theirs as well. Before one of the presentations, Alex Morse, Mayor of Holyoke, MA, passed by and gave students a pep talk about loving the city and doing all they can to show love and respect to each other. He was the perfect intro to my speech.

After each speech, students would come up to me and thank me for coming to their school. I passed out cards that read, “Run Biscuit” for them to remember the day. It was truly a special day nationwide.

You can find out more about this event and how you can get involved by visiting their website: http://www.stompoutbullying.org

Using Humor To Motivate Teens at School Assemblies

I often ask event planners why they decided to hire me to speak to their teenage students and the answer I get the most is because I use a lot of humor in my speech.  The other reason is because I’m Hispanic and they usually have a high percentage of Hispanics at their school or they want to expose their students to someone who is Hispanic and holds a Masters degree and runs a successful business. 

Whatever the case, I’m honored to speak in schools all the over the country. My number one request from schools is to speak on the issue of bullying. As an anti-bullying speaker I try to use humor to hook teens before presenting a serious message. The only way I can describe it is to relate to that of a Surgeon. Before a Surgeon goes deep, he uses anesthesia to numb their patients, well I use comedy as a form of anesthesia before delivering a serious message about suicide and bullying, which is now being coined as bullycide.

I enjoy taking a cold audience and taking them on a fun journey where I make them the hero. I show students how to handle bullies at school and show how to take them from enemy to friend. That’s right. I don’t teach students how to report bullying, that’s too easy and it doesn’t work. I’d rather empower teens to handle bullies on their own, it’ll build resilience and instead of being safe for a day, they’ll be safe for a lifetime because they’ll own the coping skills needed to overcome bullying. I teach teens how to respond to bullies.

If your school is ready to have the top bullying speaker who uses humor in their speech, then I’d love to come to your school. Contact us today about a possible date.

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.