MMA fighter to give anti-bullying talk
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. » After spreading its anti-bullying message to nearly 100 schools and 100,000 students during the 2016-2017 school year, Sweethearts & Heroes returns to New York this week to start the new school year with presentations at the Schuylerville Central School District.
The Sweethearts & Heroes presentation starts with a video montage of Tom Murphy, professional MMA fighter and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, triumphing over his opponents to a backdrop of rock music. Then, Murphy emerges from the back of the auditorium, who think they will spend the next hour hearing pumped-up fight stories from Murphy, but that’s not the case. “I hate fighting,” Murphy announces before his 90-minute presentations.
Murphy, of St. Albans, Vt., co-developed Sweethearts & Heroes with Jason Spector, a teacher and coach in Glens Falls. Sweethearts & Heroes emphasizes an action-based approach — going beyond awareness — to an issue that affects schools, neighborhoods and individuals.
The crux of the Sweethearts & Heroes presentation, and all of the organization’s efforts, are five “Bully Buttons” that combine to form a call to action against bullying. In addition, Rick Yarosh, a retired sergeant with the U.S. Army — injured in Iraq with burns over most of his body — gives a message about overcoming adversity and turning a negative situation into a positive one.
Murphy and Spector call Sweethearts and Heroes “the ‘stop, drop and roll’ of bullying.” Since 2011, Murphy has presented Sweethearts & Heroes to more than 1 million students in several hundred schools from New England to Hawaii, where he traveled thousands of miles, upon invitation, to offer Sweethearts & Heroes at several schools during late 2015 and early 2016. Murphy and Spector also tailor Sweethearts & Heroes for businesses, colleges/universities and camps.
“Just talking about awareness doesn’t fix anything,” says Murphy, a husband and father who competed on the second season of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Murphy and Spector are New Yorkers who wrestled for premier Division III college wrestling coach Don Murray at the state University of New York at Brockport. Murphy and Spector eventually became mixed martial arts competitors.
“We use Einstein’s quote: ‘The world is a dangerous place not because of those who choose to do evil, but because of those who choose to do nothing about it’,” said Spector. “We offer a unique perspective on bullying and leave audiences with an A-B-C action plan to fight it. Bullying isn’t the problem. Bullies have been around for ever. The problem is we don’t have enough Sweethearts and Heroes in the world.” For more information on Sweethearts & Heroes, log on to www.sweetheartsandheroes.org.