The future of Bernie the Bull
Don’t miss part two of The Creation of Bernie Gets Bullied. Over those 27 months, from dream to reality, I kept developing the product and message of Bernie the Bull and “Bernie Gets Bullied”. I truly feel as though Bernie can be that national character that grabs children’s attention and really explains his message. You might ask yourself: What exactly is his message? That is the beauty of what I had developed over those 27 months, and what I hope to take around the country explaining to parents and children.
It’s actually really simple after all the difficulty of development. There are many messages to learn from the book, however, some are more compelling and immediate. The most important message and reason I wrote the book is for any victim of bullying to speak up and stand up for themselves or other victims. The anti-bully message is only half of the problem surrounding this major wrinkle in society. The other half, as previously stated, is understanding that we as a society will never be able to eliminate all bullying. However, we can certainly change the way we react to it.
Another very important message within the book is the old saying that one should never judge a book by its cover. This is evident when we find out that Bernie is a bull and in fact the one being bullied. We might be conditioned to think that someone who is perceived by society as tough, strong,and unbreakable would be the bully, when in fact tough and strong people can also be victims of bullying. Unfortunately, bullying comes in all shapes and sizes; there is definitely not a one size fits all mold when it comes to bullying.
Bernie’s Basics
I have developed Bernie’s Basics, which are six principles centered on believing in yourself and being vigilante on identifying and standing up to bullying. They are simple enough for a four year old to understand and utilize throughout life’s development. They speak to the message of the book and are highly achievable actions. I plan to utilize Bernie’s Basics to speak to parents and children around the country about the importance of these six principles in improving our children’s understanding of what bullying is and how to stand up to it.
The whole process has been an unbelievable journey. It is finally time to introduce Bernie the Bull to the world. I know you will fall in love with him and the messages in “Bernie Gets Bullied”. If you want to pick up a copy of the book for someone you love, you can find it in the shop, it’s simple. If you would like to have me come speak at an event, a school, PTO meeting or anywhere you think the message of Bernie’s Basics needs to be heard, contact me. If we can stand up to bullying, then we have a chance to erase the danger it poses to our children and our society.