Sweethearts and Heroes spreads message of hope and anti-bullying at NCSD
NORWICH – Motivational speakers from Sweethearts and Heroes visited Norwich City School District on Thursday and Friday to speak to students and educators at a series of assemblies about the importance of intervening in the presence of bullying and providing hope to those that need it.
Tom Murphy, a martial artist and motivational speaker for Sweethearts and Heroes, spoke to students and educators about "perhaps the greatest moral puzzle that humanity has ever faced." Suicides of 10 to 14 year old has doubled since 2007, Murphy said. Half a million to a million children aged 10 to 14 commit suicide every year.
Speaking to a Norwich educator during an assembly with Norwich Middle School students Thursday afternoon, Murphy said, "In your lifetime, sir, the number one thing to take the life of a 10 to 14 year old has always been car accidents. Last year for the first time in human history, the number one thing to take the life of a kid in this room? Their own hand."
Besides the basic necessities, Murphy said every human being needs two things to survive: meaning and acceptance. Without a meaning or purpose, and without feeling accepted by your peers, a person is driven to hopelessness, Murphy said––like no possibilities exist for their future and like they can't go on.
In discussing hopelessness, Murphy played a video clip about Army veteran and Windsor High School graduate Rick Yarosh. On September 1, 2006, Yarosh was on patrol in Iraq when his bradley ran over an IED buried under a road on which he had traveled many times before, detonating and engulfing the vehicle in flames.
The video shows Yarosh's road to recovery in the hospital as he describes the experience, becoming engulfed in flames and barely managing to escape the burning vehicle before jumping to the ground, breaking his leg, and rolling into a canal to extinguish himself.
At the video's end, Yarosh walked through the aisles of the auditorium with his service dog to describe firsthand the different instances when the experience and recovery caused him to abandoned all hope.
“In that moment of hopelessness I was giving up on all of the possibilities I had for the future,” said Yarosh. “I had no idea what those possibilities were. I didn't know if I would be a doctor someday. I didn't know if I would be playing football again today. I had no clue that I'd be speaking to students one day. But in the end it didn't matter what those possibilities were because I was giving up on every single one of them.
“I can guarantee you the hardest stuff we deal with in life leads to the best things,” said Yarosh. “I can tell you that from experience. What I went through was very difficult, very hard. But it led to the best thing I've ever done: being able to speak to you all.”
After Yarosh finished speaking, Murphy took the stage again and said the purpose of the assembly was to talk about how bullying leads to people feeling hopeless, and how bullying is almost entirely preventable.
“The craziest thing: every kid can tell you when it happens, where it happens, why it happens and who it happens to, and they get away with it,” said Murphy, who also said 97 to 98 percent of bullying instances result in no consequnce. “85 percent of all bullying experiences happen in front of other people, and that's really why I'm here."
At the end of the assembly on Thursday afternoon, Norwich Middle School students joined Murphy on stage as he role-played a bully and the students were tasked with diffusing different scenarios..
“We have a population of young people the feel like they can't hold on. They feel like there's no possibilities that exist for our future,” said Murphy. “All of you are the key. The rest of you are the solution to solving it forever in your school, your community, and in the world.”
Pictured: Sweethearts & Heroes visited Norwich City School District on Thursday and Friday to spread their message about what bystanders can do to prevent bullying and provide hope to those who need it. At the end of the assembly with Norwich Middle School students Thursday afternoon, students joined Tom Murphy of Sweethearts & Heroes in improvisational skits dealing with different scenarios of bullying. (Grady Thompson photo)
Tom Murphy, a martial artist and motivational speaker for Sweethearts and Heroes, spoke to students and educators about "perhaps the greatest moral puzzle that humanity has ever faced." Suicides of 10 to 14 year old has doubled since 2007, Murphy said. Half a million to a million children aged 10 to 14 commit suicide every year.
Speaking to a Norwich educator during an assembly with Norwich Middle School students Thursday afternoon, Murphy said, "In your lifetime, sir, the number one thing to take the life of a 10 to 14 year old has always been car accidents. Last year for the first time in human history, the number one thing to take the life of a kid in this room? Their own hand."
Besides the basic necessities, Murphy said every human being needs two things to survive: meaning and acceptance. Without a meaning or purpose, and without feeling accepted by your peers, a person is driven to hopelessness, Murphy said––like no possibilities exist for their future and like they can't go on.
In discussing hopelessness, Murphy played a video clip about Army veteran and Windsor High School graduate Rick Yarosh. On September 1, 2006, Yarosh was on patrol in Iraq when his bradley ran over an IED buried under a road on which he had traveled many times before, detonating and engulfing the vehicle in flames.
The video shows Yarosh's road to recovery in the hospital as he describes the experience, becoming engulfed in flames and barely managing to escape the burning vehicle before jumping to the ground, breaking his leg, and rolling into a canal to extinguish himself.
At the video's end, Yarosh walked through the aisles of the auditorium with his service dog to describe firsthand the different instances when the experience and recovery caused him to abandoned all hope.
“In that moment of hopelessness I was giving up on all of the possibilities I had for the future,” said Yarosh. “I had no idea what those possibilities were. I didn't know if I would be a doctor someday. I didn't know if I would be playing football again today. I had no clue that I'd be speaking to students one day. But in the end it didn't matter what those possibilities were because I was giving up on every single one of them.
“I can guarantee you the hardest stuff we deal with in life leads to the best things,” said Yarosh. “I can tell you that from experience. What I went through was very difficult, very hard. But it led to the best thing I've ever done: being able to speak to you all.”
After Yarosh finished speaking, Murphy took the stage again and said the purpose of the assembly was to talk about how bullying leads to people feeling hopeless, and how bullying is almost entirely preventable.
“The craziest thing: every kid can tell you when it happens, where it happens, why it happens and who it happens to, and they get away with it,” said Murphy, who also said 97 to 98 percent of bullying instances result in no consequnce. “85 percent of all bullying experiences happen in front of other people, and that's really why I'm here."
At the end of the assembly on Thursday afternoon, Norwich Middle School students joined Murphy on stage as he role-played a bully and the students were tasked with diffusing different scenarios..
“We have a population of young people the feel like they can't hold on. They feel like there's no possibilities that exist for our future,” said Murphy. “All of you are the key. The rest of you are the solution to solving it forever in your school, your community, and in the world.”
Pictured: Sweethearts & Heroes visited Norwich City School District on Thursday and Friday to spread their message about what bystanders can do to prevent bullying and provide hope to those who need it. At the end of the assembly with Norwich Middle School students Thursday afternoon, students joined Tom Murphy of Sweethearts & Heroes in improvisational skits dealing with different scenarios of bullying. (Grady Thompson photo)
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