(This story appeared in the May 30, 2006
Billings Gazette and
Sheridan Press, among others.)
Anti-bullying word spreads
By The Associated Press
CHEYENNE -- As a rodeo clown, Marvin Nash gets his share of bulls coming after
him. But,outside the arena, Nash has found a niche by helping youths deal with
bullies through a program called Bullying Hurts.
"We've got some type of program going in, I think, 37 states,"he said.
The Bullying Hurts Program stresses support, attention and education. It
teaches, among other things, that bullying is a part of life, violence toward
bullies is not a solution and support of victims of bullying is key to helping
them deal with it.
"W're not going to make bullying go away, but if we can help you deal with it,
it's not going to be a negative thing and destroy your life,"Nash said.
On Tuesday, Nash is helping put the finishing touches on a new music and
public-ervice announcement video that will be incorporated into the program.
The program is an extension of an earlier anti-drug initiative by Nash to teach
schoolchildren about making the right decisions in life.
The earlier program didn't catch on like the bullying program despite Nash once
rolling a 175-pound barrel about 1,800 miles to promote it.
The bullying program is different from the anti-drug program in that it relies
on high-chool students, with the use of a video featuring Nash in his rodeo
clown getup, to mentor the elementary students over a six-week period.
"They go in and teach elementary kids how to get along,"Nash said.
He aid the high-chool students find themselves getting very involved in helping
the elementary students. In one case, high-schoolers started riding the bus with
a girl who was picked on by others.
"Part of the magic of this ... no matter what we read and everything, kids
basically want to do good," said Nash, 50. "They don't want to see them bullied,
they don't want to see them hurt, they don't want to see them made fun of. All
we're doing is we've given them a method to help the younger kids."
The program has proved successful, including discovering a girl who was being
molested at home.