On March 26, at 6 p.m. at MHS Tom Thelen, Youth Motivational Speaker, spoke to teachers, students, and parents about everything going on in the world – kids bullying other kids, people creating violent situations all around the world, the spread of negativity. Sometimes the most effective solution to fix these situations is simply just talking through it with others. Tom Thelen has done exactly that.

Thelen travels from school district to school district spreading bullying awareness. He has written three separate books based around bullying. The main title of each book is, “Victimproof.” His first book was published in February 2013 and it is titled, “Victimproof: How I Learned to Overcome Bullying.” His second book was shortly realized the same year entitled, “Victimproof the Student’s Guide to End Bullying.” His latest book was released August 2014 entitled, “Victimproof Teacher’s Guide.”

As the founder of The No Bullying School Program, Thelen covers many different aspects on bullying.

“Cyberbullying has increased within the past couple years exponentially,” He said.

Thelen created his organization because the past experiences he went though. Accordign to Thelen, during his middle and high school careersm, he was often bullied.

“I was shoved in lockers, given swirlies by the bigger kids, and just called names whenever I walked down the halls. Even though I loved school, the students who bullied me destroyed what I enjoyed doing.” Thelen said.

Thelen gives parents, students, and teacher’s tips to help prevent or stop bullying completely. For parents and teachers, Mr. Thelen suggests to not intervene. Parents often want to protect their kids but parents need to take a step back and think about the outcome as the days pass; only intervene if there are signs of physical or sexual abuse. For students, they should find healthy friendships, learn how to unpack baggage and talk with some people that they trust, always staying calm.