"Sticks and Stones can break bones and unkind words can break hearts"

“Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is a big lie when bullying occurs.
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, and unkind words can break my heart,” said motivational national speaker Mark Brown with Great American Opportunities.
Brown, a native of Jamaica, spoke to the St. Edmund student body during an anti-bullying assembly Thursday morning.  
A victim of bullying himself, Brown recalled his own run-ins when he was a skinny, nerdy, tall sixth-grader.  
He added, “I was tormented by three girls in my class. And 40 years later I still remember this, and still remember their names. One of the girls even sent her brother to beat me up. They thought this was funny.”
Brown used humorous tactics and gave one true story about having his “Daddy moment.”  
He told about his experience watching the Disney movie “Beauty and The Beast” with his family, which taught him what bullying looks like.  Brown acted out some of the scenes of the classic Disney cartoon film in which Gaston, the “fake” hero as Brown called him, rouses an angry crowd to go kill the Beast, who instills fear into the village.
Brown said he was fooled by Gaston. “He thought he was a hero... but he was a villian, and on the flipside, Belle, the story’s heroine, said I know the Beast looks scary, but he’s nice.”
“Everyday in America, 160,000 kids stay home from school because they’re afraid to face Gaston,” said Brown.
Brown encouraged students to stand up, become people of character, and never assume that you know how another person feels.  
He said, “Our words become weapons...tens of thousands of kids everyday come to school with a plastic smile, but they are crying on the inside.  
He said the Golden Rule should be always remembered, “Treat others as you’d like to be treated... this is the ideal way to create an environment of peace and respect in schools.”
As Brown encouraged students to treat others with respect and show kindness he gave two important messages. One from Mother Teresa, “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and  happier.”
And, “Careless  words stab like a sword, but wise words bring healing,” King Solomon.
Brown challenged the students to “change a life,” and added, “Do your words hurt or heal?”
Brown added, “How will people, here in school, remember your name 40 years from now?”
Brown has been speaking to kids all over the country for over 15 years.