(Atlantic) The Scary Guy with a mission of eliminating hate, violence, bullying, and prejudice, worldwide, and an expert in eliminating bullying in schools and corporations, will begin his ten- stay in Cass County beginning this week.

Wendy Richter, Director of the Family Crisis Support Network and a member of the Cass County Child Abuse and Prevention Council says, they started looking at issues of bullying and harassment a couple of years ago.

“Local agencies were getting calls from parents of children that were being bullied or being bullying themselves, and wanted to know what could be done.”

That’s when Richter and others realized there weren’t any resources available for that specific issue. So they began to search for some answers.

“The reality is that there are local kids that are crying out for help, either literally or behaving in ways to mask the problem which then has a negative impact on someone else,” stated Richter. “So in our research we found Scary who was actually introduced to us from one of the local schools who wanted to bring him in several years ago, but couldn’t afford it.”

So Richter says they made it their goal to get him here even though it carried a price tag of around $26,000. But they raised the funds and here he is.

“He told us upfront that his message isn’t just about bullying, it’s about violence prevention and there are conflict resolution skills that are being taught,” said Richter.

“Which are things that our kids need to know. He also told us that he doesn’t like it when schools, communities, or individuals label kids bullies.”

The Scary Guys appearance hasn’t been without some controversy, in fact some parents have commented that they plan on leaving their child home from school during days he is scheduled to appear. Richter admits the reality is the parents have a choice and they can choose to keep their kids home from school.

“However, isn’t that the beginning stages of harassment or bullying? Is this an example of judging and putting labels on people because of how they look?”

Richter says the goal is for the Scary Guys message to challenge students, teachers, administrators, parents, business owners and bosses to think about what they say and do and what impact that has on another individual.

The Cass County Child Abuse Prevention Council, has worked with the County Supervisors and have proclaimed the 2014-2015 School Year as “Violence Prevention in Cass County Schools Year.”

Tom Robinson
August 25, 2014
a.m. news