In this episode we had the chance to interview Jeff Bearden, an amazing father who talks to us about bullying and how to support our kids through this destructive practice! 

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Jeff Bearden, known as “The Get Back on Your Feet Guy”, inspires today’s youth to get back on their feet, stand up to bullying, battle depression, and live lives free of alcohol and drugs through his motivational speaking. As a professional wrestler for over 25 years—working under the names “Giant Warrior” and “Tiger Steele”—Bearden entertained audiences all over the world, including audiences of over 75,000. Through his wrestling career, he had experiences both positive and negative that he brings to his speeches.

The topics that Jeff Bearden speaks on are those that have personally affected him and people he knew from his life on the road, providing his audience with a judgment-free and relatable message. His message is as powerful as his seven-foot stature: no matter where you are in your life and no matter what cards life has dealt you, you can get back on your feet and thrive.

In speaking with Jeff Bearden he shared with us he started playing basketball and then continued wrestling for almost 25 years. He always played a character that was the bad guy so even though he was not a bully in real life, he learned all about bullying as the more viscious he was as his character the more reaction he would get from his fans. He came to relate, see and understand the psychology behind the bully from this.

From an early age he always loved working with youth but because of his size and his image as a bad guy he did not always get the chance to do this. However as he learned more about bullying and found more ways to talk to youth he found that it was a lot easier to “run my mouth than get hit in the head every night.”

 

Since leaving the wrestling world, Jeff Bearden has been speaking to youth around the world, spreading an anti-bullying message and supporting kids to be the best that they can be. In his journey he continues to encourage school districts to have a strong anti-bullying policy. At the same time though he encourages parents to mobilize to create a volunteer program that can help kids to have people to go to and to recognize bullying that may be occurring around the schools. The problem that Jeff Bearden has seen is that bullying does not usually occur in front of teachers or parents, so it is important for kids to be able have adults that they can come to and talk to or a way to tell adults without telling them in person. Jeff Bearden shared that some school districts are supporting the website. Sprigeo.com as it is a site where kids can send in reports of bullying and the reports will be shared directly with administrators at their school.

So you might be wondering, how do you talk about this with your kids? Jeff Bearden says that communication is key in talking about these issues as kids look to parents as their anchor in their lives. Jeff Bearden said that he has run into a number of kids that act out just because they want to see who will reel them in, so as parents we have to be that anchor for our kids. Jeff Bearden said that if you notice that your child is acting different what is key is to sit down with them and to simply ask them what is going on in their life. The important thing is once you ask this, you have to sit back, shut up, and listen as this will encourage the communication.

Whether you child is following the main stream or is not, Jeff Bearden tells kids that “if you are weird, be the best weird you can be” as well as that they need to talk to adults  see what they can offer you.

 

 

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