Archive for October, 2013

Kindness is Prayer

Monday, October 28th, 2013
Every kind act is prayer in action.
Prayer is…asking for goodness to happen.
A kind act is…working to make goodness happen.
As long as there is kindness in schools…prayer in action is still in schools

Major Milestone

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013

My primary focus lately has been on schools adopting One Million Acts Of Kindness for the school year. It is the cure-all for all that ails.
A school community that is cued in on kindness and respect for one another is one that is an ideal learning environment for academics and core values. It doesn’t get any better than that, I have been told by educators.
Twenty-five schools have “signed up” for kindness as a goal for the school year. Schools scattered across the country, including my grade school alma mater and my hometown elementary school.
This is an incredible honor for me to have this many schools take part.
Thank you one and all.
This is initiative is open for enrollment at any point during the course of the school year. Please contact me for information at [email protected]

One Year Ride Turns Into Six

Monday, October 21st, 2013

10-21-13One year ago today, I began a 9,000 mile ride called Ring Our Country with Kindness (ROCK) The ride is to help put an end to Bullying and Adolescent Suicide. It is amazing to look back on all of the many highlights of the past year. Two of the bigger highlights are, The Kindness Bus deciding it no longer wishes to climb over mountains and the need to continue this ride much longer than the one year I had originally planned.
Big news about The Kindness Bus and it’s replacement will be announced very soon. The one year ride which was my original intent has now been extended to six years.
Bullying and Adolescent Suicide are two of the top issues I will address for the remaining 5+ years of The Kindness Bus Tour. My mission has one main objective, to save kid’s lives!

One Million Acts of Kindness Fundraiser

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
10-17-13There have been many fundraising stories that have happened during the past couple of weeks. One is summed up in the letter below. It describes the dedication of the Absolute Dance Company competition team.
Hi Bob,
The dance team has been very busy and we are so excited to be a part of the kindness generation! Last weekend the girls raised $376 for the bus!!!! They had a booth at the Avon Lake homecoming festival where they sold rainbow loom bracelets (the newest craze) for $1 and they worked their hearts out! They made all the bracelets themselves and took turns working the table too. This upcoming Monday, they are hosting an assembly at Erieview Elementary school to spread the message even further! We couldn’t get all the schools on board as the other principals felt they had already begun their anti-bullying program for the year, but they all expressed interest in learning more about it for next school year, so that’s exciting! Thanks again for all you’re doing & we’ll keep you posted on our successes here in Avon Lake!

We need Your Helping Hand

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

The Fundly video link below shows the past 4 years of the 10 year mission of The Kindness Bus tour.
Please take the time to view it on a computer. It is nearly 6 minutes long, but is time well spent.
fundly.com/the-kindness-bus-tour

Spreading Kindness at Liahona Academy

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

I was recently contacted by Tyler Clark of Liahona Academy regarding the bullying. A statement from their website and a post by Tyler are below.

At Liahona, we believe that boys thrive in an environment of “love” and “discipline”. Moreover, we believe that boys respond to the help offered when they feel loved, respected and responsible.

Is Your Child Being Bullied?

There is nothing more heartbreaking then to see your child upset and there is little that you can do. More and more these days we are hearing about bullying cases and it seems to have just become part of daily life for children of certain ages. We need to try all we can to make it so this is not the norm. As parents it is our responsibility to do something about the issue. There are ways to tell if your child is being bullied in order to stop it.

Most of the time children will not come right out and tell their parents they are being bullied. It is up to parents to look for signs that something may be wrongs. This includes listening to what your child has to stay. For example, if your child comes home hungry from school because they did not eat their lunch then ask why. Ask if someone took it. If they come home andsay they want to quit the soccer team ask why. Is someone on the team giving them a hard time?

As children get older it may get harder and harder to actually speak to them. In this case you want to look for signs without them having to even say a word. If their social interactions change then there may be an issue. If they are spending more time secluded at home then it may be wise to ask “Do you want me to take you and your friends to the movies?” If they are hesitant to do anything they would normally do then it is time to confront them directly about bullying.

Physical signs on your child can tell you right away if bullying is taking place. If they come home with scratches or bruises they did not have when the left for school it is important to ask what happen. If they have a torn jacket sleeve make sure to find out how the tore took place. They may be hesitant to give the truth at first but look for signs they are being untruthful.

Bottom line is to be aware of what is happening with and around your child. If you are an active part of their life they will be more likely to come out and tell you when something is going wrong.

Tyler Clark is with Liahona Academy in Hurricane, UT and is committed to helping troubled youth and is an active supporter of Anti-Bullying Month.