_"Awesome!  Best assembly in 26 years."
Joanne Basta, math teacher at Edward Town Middle School in Sanborn, NY
Keynote Presentations

Bully Defender
A Preventative AND Proactive Plan for Bullying

Don't make dicussing the topic of bullying boring and ineffective.  Why not create an environment where kids LEARN, are EQUIPPED, and have FUN?  Jerry's Bully Defender keynote is PERFECT for your students!  His presence in front of students gets them not only understanding bullying, but realizing the role they play (or don't play) in making bullying continue at school.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS KEYNOTE?:
  • Defining bullying in a way students understand
  • Participating in a Bully Defender exercise (GUARANTEED to get your students ready to end bullying in your school)
  • The 3 R's:  Remove, Report, and Reach ... easily understood and easily implemented!
  • Plus ... humorous stories, group participation, and practical teaching!  It's like not even skipping a class period!
  • BONUS!  The Mower will be performed!

Ride the Mower   
Taking Risks to Reach Your Full Potential

This program emphasizes the importance of making good, healthy relationship choices and having personal responsibility. Using his favorite ice-breaker, “The Mower”, Jerry shows how choices affect future relationships and personal lives.

With 18 different interactive elements within a 50-minute presentation, Jerry involves students in this presentation. There is never a dull moment and your students will love it!  From personal stories that will have students laughing and “pin-drop” moments that will  have them on the edge of their seat, Jerry will engage and equip the students in a way that will only emphasize the learning they have daily in the classroom.

What's Wrong With These People?  Don't They Know I'm Their Leader?
How to Effectively Lead Others

Are you having a tough time trying to get difficult people to follow your lead? Well, you’re not alone. Many student leaders, just like you, struggle with understanding and leading all the diverse personalities in their organization. In this fun, interactive, and engaging presentation, student leaders will be equipped to become a respected leader. 

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"By far you are the best presenter I've ever had!"
I looked at myself differently after it was over. I realized afterwords that if I really am going to be a leader I need to learn how to take risks." 
- Stephanie Jones, Chicago DECA student
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Unsolicited and Unedited Comments

I thought his talk was really moving and it taught me to stick up for people getting bullied. I really enjoyed it and I had alot of laughs! - Lauren
“You gave lots of good information for the kids. Keep up the great work.”  Cheryl
it was serious but at the same time extremely fun and funny:) - Claire
“I think it was funny and everything he said was the truth” Natasha
it was beautiful. well spoken. funny too at certain points. - Taylor
“It was a great motivational speech for the age group. Kept their attention!” Robyn
I thought it was cool that you talk to people about things that matter and you make it interesting. - Elizabeth
have to admit, I thought it would be the same old boring bullying talk we get each year, but I was pleasantly surprised on the interactive and humourous aspect of the assembly. i loved it! - Sarah
Honestly, although I think bullying is a problem, but I just thought this was gonna be another one of those boring talks. But it wasn't. I really liked how he was funny, and he made us get up and dance. I laughed a lot and he really connected with the audience. I liked it. Thanks Jerry ! :) - Sam
“It was inspirational. He's funny and he's practical. I've seen him twice. He's just plain awesome!” Alysha
i thought it was great. iluv the stories jerry told and all of the reasons, and i will never bulie anyone - Nickie
“very inspirational and made me think about what im doing with my life :)” Brianne
“ Definitely someone I would listen to again.”  Jennifer Shoop
“it brought light to things i would of never thought of in my life”  Tiera
“He was really funny, he made me laugh and got me out of my confort zone”  Arisbel

Jerry's Latest:  Interviewed About Bullying, Makes Cleveland Newspaper, Makes Jamestown, NY Paper
* Read the stories below or click on the pictures to visit the site

Bullying Interview, WRFA News - Jamestown, New York

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Make It Stop
Bullying In Schools Often Starts At Home, Solution Begins There As Well December 18, 2011 By Scott Shelters - Features/Entertainment Reporter (sshelters@post-journal.com) , The Post-Journal Save | Post a comment |

Jerry Ackerman, who was the keynote speaker at The Gateway Center's inaugural anti-bullying event recently, believes communication can prevent bullying.

He and his family eat as many meals together as possible. It allows them time to talk about each other's days. Many families aren't doing that.

"I think some parents are afraid to communicate with their kids because they want to be their friends," said Ackerman, who speaks internationally on the subject. "You brought them into this world; you need to help them get through this world and not just be an advocate for what they're doing."

Ackerman said the only way for parents to have quality time with their kids is to have "quantity time" with them, noting the more involved parents are with their children, the more likely they will be to prevent bullying.

At The Gateway Center's event, Ackerman spoke for school administrators, students, parents and community members on prevention tactics.

"A lot of times, when I do a parent seminar, the ones who come aren't the ones who need to," he said.

Some parents don't believe their children would ever bully or be bullied. Without hard evidence to the contrary or sound communication with their children, bullying could go unnoticed.

"Back decades ago, if I got in trouble at school, my parents would say, 'You're going to get it twice as bad at home.' Now a lot of parents are the first ones at the school door saying, 'My kid can't do that; he's an angel,'" Ackerman said.

EASY TARGETS

Ackerman believes adolescents suffer from bullying more often than any other demographic. Children struggling with their own insecurities tend to pick on others to elevate themselves.According to figures provided to the anti-bullying event's attendees, nearly 160,000 U.S. children skip school due to fear of being bullied each year.

Thanks to cyber bullying, they now have the same fears when they log onto social networking sites or flip open their cellphones.

"Text bullying is huge. Outside of verbal bullying, it's the biggest way people bully," Ackerman said. "It's easy to do; it's anonymous. It is hard to detect as far as who sent it."

At The Gateway Center, a panel of bullying experts, including Ackerman, advised parents to print off evidence of cyber bullying. Ackerman went as far as to say children of a certain age shouldn't have social-networking accounts, adding parents should have access to any of their children's profiles.BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE

Stereotypical bullies look more like the cast of "Glee" than that of "The Office," but experts believe workplace bullying happens often.

It doesn't happen as much online, and it isn't nearly as obvious as high-school teasing.

According to Ackerman, 48 percent of adults say they've been bullied at work. They experience teasing and sarcasm, suffering the consequences of an economic and social power struggle.

"If half the adults are getting bullied, they're passing that down to their kids, who are doing the bullying at school. The 52 percent who are bullying, they're not turning that off when they get home; they're doing that to their kids," Ackerman said. "The kids at schools are doing what they've seen at home at school. It's very cyclical."

Bullying can start sooner than middle or high school. Ackerman has had to be proactive, addressing children as young as 4 or 5 years old.

"I just did a presentation to kindergarteners a couple weeks ago. It was the same message just done a little differently so they could understand it," he said.

MAKING IT STOP

Ackerman served as the keynote speaker for two sessions during Thursday's anti-bullying event. In the morning, he and a group of panelists interacted with school officials and community members, answering questions and speaking on the various types of verbal and cyber bullying.

In the evening, Ackerman and others led discussions and exercises on bullying prevention with parents and teenagers.

Ackerman offered a three-step plan for child and adult bullying victims.

"Remove, report and reach," he said. "Remove yourself from the situation as best you can. Even though it's not your fault, remove yourself. Report it to somebody who can be your advocate. Reach and find friends who can help insulate you and help encourage you through it all. I think the same thing can be said for adults."

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