During the presentation, Thelen shared his own experience being a victim of bullying himself. Thanks to a teacher who intervened and helped him, he broke free from being a victim. During the one-hour assembly in the school’s auditorium, Thelen empowered kids to be victim proof, to break free from the victim mindset, and shared ways to handle bullies. He maintained that everyone is subject to being bullied at some point in his/her life irrespective of age. Even his young children were subjected to being bullied.
The best way to handle bullies is to be victim proof. To do this, one must recognize and respond to bullying, by dropping the victim mindset, by making positive life choices, and by being the change on a school campus. Students from the two assembly sessions listened intently and participated in questions and activities. One of the activities that Tom facilitated was to visually and kinesthetically show students how one can cultivate habits that ultimately form character. Through this activity, he was advocating how one can mentally and physically build oneself to be victim proof. Students held big size stock cards showing words such as feel, think, say, do, habit, and character.
Marguerita School thanks Tom Thelen and Gateway to Success for this valuable assembly.
(Posted 4/2015)