Be Simply Fit

Freedom of speech is not the freedom to say what you want but the wisdom to say what you ought. Always remember you can’t yell fire in Macy’s. Unless of course there’s a fire. The Bully Proof Classroom Please Donate Originally Aired: April 3, 2019

I met this compelling young man at the NJEA convention on November 8th of this year. I was so taken by his passion and commitment that I had to have him on Anti Bullying 101. Ikechukwu Onyema (EK) is a science teacher in East Orange, NJ. He is also a co-founder of MAPSO Freedom School, a non-profit committed to educational justice. Alongside his career as an educator, he is an avid writer. When yo...

What qualities would any student need if they were going live in the real world right now as adults? I’m talking about the basics, but, these behaviors are so important to the lifelong success of any individual. What are the five behaviors that I discovered? When I started to enforce the rules around these behaviors things started to change and change quickly. I discovered that everyone not only k...

Another school shooting in California. Comments by officials refer to the perpetrator as a trouble young man. Why are we missing this as professionals. We can't go on allowing kids to be rude, discourteous, and disrespectful at a young age because they will transform as they get older into troubled teens and adults. Listen to how disrespect was handled 50 years ago and why we have to begin to stop...

As a young boy I always had a fear of authority. I don’t mean the police, I mean adults other than my parents. There was always some authority figure who was correcting me in the community or in school. Since my father was the owner of a pretty popular bar in a very small town, I was well known in the town, and I knew a lot of adults. If I was involved in some stupid behavior on one side of town m...

I’ve been fighting this problem for over 40 years, and truthfully I just want it to go away but I know it won’t. My heart breaks every time I hear of another bullying related incident that had tragic results. Teachers need help and guidance in dealing with this issue and I’ve put together a program that I believe will truly make a difference. The Anti Bullying Boot Camp provides a series of five c...

If you have been listening to this podcast you know who I am but, in case you forgot my name is Jim Burns. This is my forty third year in education. I’ve worked as a teacher, administrator and now a college instructor. The one thing that I hear teachers talk about all the time is what do we do with kids who are just plain unmotivated and give the impression that they just don’t care. There is a di...

I came to realize as I began my teaching career that my students, other teachers, and even the parents I worked with were caught up with the trials of life and couldn’t focus on academic tasks. Teachers and society in general started believing that people with these shortcomings had ADD. I know I had some pieces missing, and I definitely wasn’t the sum of my parts. My students had pieces missing;...

My dad and mom owned a bar so at a very early age it became very easy for me to be around people who drank all the time. From the time I was a kid I thought that the whole world drank and got drunk. My dad was a binge drinker and he would go of on a bender every six months or so. He would be gone from one to three days. I always asked my mom where dad slept when he was gone and she would say in th...

When young people make it a habit to drink in order to deal with problems they have socially,  their emotions to go dormant at the age that they started to drink, which then prevents them from maturing emotionally. Drinking becomes their social and emotional coping mechanism. These young people do not experience the natural growing pains that must be gone through where they learn how to inter...

After WWII a new kind of generation was born in the United States. Because of the after effects of the World War II, the United States experienced an economical boom, which resulted in high income jobs, and unemployment rates were non-existent. Education was also enhanced by the government and universities and colleges were prompting people to get a college degree. Education was cheap, and was rea...

· Every individual has the right to be spared oppression and repeated, intentional humiliation, in school and in society at large. · Bullying is a precursor to greater and more dangerous violence, and it fosters intense misery among students. There is never, ever any reason for someone to be bullied. This episode covers the top reasons why some kids are bullied. It gives you the top 5 in grades 4-...

Have you ever wondered why your parents did some of the things that they did. I did lots of times. My dad had so many regimented activities that I thought he had a screw lose or something. I’m only going to talk about two here because there are too many to put into one episode. I really spent time observing my dad as a kid and listening to him as well, and it wasn’t until I was about forty that I...

Those who have difficulty scholastically can be viewed as someone who has focus issues or maybe even ADHD. That isn't always the case. Problems with authority, parents, insecurities, and the inability to handle conflict and confrontations all play a part in a person's inability to succeed academically.  When looking at the problem of bullying it becomes obvious that the inability to focus is...

When kids play they learn how to solve problems and resolve conflict on their own. Conflict and confrontations are just part of life and when kids are allowed to work things out it builds confidence and courage moving forward, and it gives them a leg up in a very competitive world. To Donate Please Click Here The Bully Proof Classroom

Tyler Flach has been arrested and charged in the stabbing death last week in New York of Khaseen Morris, who died surrounded by a crowd of students taking cellphone video of the attack as he bled out on the ground. You read that right. It was reported that there were between 50-70 people who people who were BYSTANDERS in this horrific. event. If you hear it or you see it you own it. Let's see who...

Sometimes it's good to be alone, and we all need that from time to time. Loneliness is another story, and the victims of bullying have self excluded themselves because of the fear of being bullied and the experience of being betrayed by those that they thought were friends. Loneliness can produce hopelessness and depression. As parents and teachers we have to be aware of the symptoms of loneliness...

This really is a follow up to my episode on Janis Joplin. What I want to know is how do celebrities not only overcome the trauma of bullying but, rise to such lofty positions and fame. I hope this episode gives you a clear explanation and I hope you use the strategy mentioned to help your student's and children. You can purchase a great resource to help your kids get started by clicking below.&nbs...

This conference is designed to help teachers deal with parents who are angry and irate and interfere with the learning process. To register please click on the link Below. Dealing With Angry And Irate Parents Conference Registration

Bullying occurs for two reason; weakness and difference. No one could have been more different yet more talented than Janis Joplin. The abuse that she suffered at the hands of bullies was unthinkable. Nothing was ever done and she used her music and art as a means of emotional expression. Regardless of how talented she was the scars always remained and she was emotionally troubled for most of her...

Some parents don't want their kids to grow up. They fear through independence they will forget them and use guilt and fear to control their children. This is sick behavior and can almost appear to be equal to harassment, intimidation, and bullying.  If this is happening to you remember it's not you. Your parents themselves haven't matured emotionally and are children themselves.  The Bul...

As kids we earned that conflict and confrontations are just part of life. We learned how to disagree and we now do it with the right attitude. The bullying epidemic must be eradicated but, the victims must be strengthened and to do that we need to help our kids find a field, a ball of any kind, and maybe a bat and glove, but most of all we have to teach our kids how to play again.

Don't deny it and don't argue with the school. If your son/daughter exhibits some of the signs mentioned in this podcast take the steps to stop it right now. Their future depends on it. If you as a parent were raised in an abusive environment and have unresolved youth conflict take the steps to get help. Your anger may be getting misplaced and you could be creating the next bully. So listen up! Th...

As our students move forward in life, their desire to have meaningful relationships with the opposite sex intensifies and dating becomes a real novelty. Discussions in high school, and even middle schools, are continually taking place about who is seeing whom, and who likes whom. Even people who are older and have been away from the dating seen for a while find this type of situation awkward, and...