How My Son Overcame Bullying and a Revolutionary Anti-Bullying Website
I have a story about a few amazing people that I would like to share with the world.
It starts with my son. He is special. He is exceptional. He has ADHD and a sensory disorder. He is crazy smart – but he is different. We knew from the time he was about four months old, that there was something unusual about him. He had issues with toys and kept things just so. He had a bouncy chair with toys attached to it, and they had to stay in a certain order or position to keep him happy.
Fast forward to public school. Not much has changed. He still wants everything to be just to his liking, in a methodical and compulsive way, or else he will act out. Socially, he missed cues and appeared to be awkward. We were proud of him and all his accomplishments and tried to focus on all the positives.
However, other little kids were keen to notice his differences and quickly began bullying him. His first week of kindergarten, he came home with a foot print right on the center of his chest. Further inspection showed a matching bruise below his shirt. He told us about being bullied on the playground. We went to the teacher at the school, and felt it was inadequately handled. She listened to us, and did nothing to remedy the situation.
At the end of his first week of kindergarten, we picked him up from school with dried blood all down his face and shirt. A bully had hit him in his nose. Teachers and staff did nothing. They didn’t even wipe him off.
It’s these moments, that as a parent, you feel like you have failed.
After much negotiating with the school, we were able to get him into another class. Kindergarten went a little better after that, but there was still bullying going on in the common areas like parent pick up. It sadly continued over into the next school year as well. At one point, two years into this mess, the staff and teachers thought it was a better idea to exile him and keep him away from the other students to “protect him”. It did nothing but tear him down.
Then we found out about a program offered in town. Everyone in town refers to it as Karate, but it is a lot more than that. Based on a combination of several different martial arts styles and self defense, the karate classes offered us an outlet for our son.
These classes are run and taught by Professor Mark Fusco, a former Navy pilot with a passion for learning and teaching martial arts. He’s been instructed by Master Gene Cross, Professor Wally Jay, Professor Remy Presas, and GM Geaorge Dillman. He holds a 3rd degree Black Belt in Ronin GoJu Karate, a 4th degree Black Belt in Ryukyu Kempo, and a 6th degree Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu. He is certified instructor in Contemporary Jeet Kune Do, Edged Weapons Defense, and a Navy SEAL Team 6 instructor. Additionally, he holds an Apprentice Instructorship in Arnis. And to top off all of that fierceness, Professor Fusco was a high school physics teacher.
In the dojo, Professor Fusco takes all of these skills and combines them into techniques used for self defense. His style and method of teaching is unique and possibly groundbreaking. It’s certainly a first for me! He teaches the kids skills with real-life applications to use in real-life scenarios. Based off of his teaching experience, he knows firsthand how bullying takes place in the schools. Additionally, he researches the various types of attacks that happen, and comes up with solutions that will work for each type of attack. This is based on the mixed martial arts techniques he learned during his training.
The students in his classes just blossom and grow from the combination of his teaching methods, and the skills that they learn from both him and his assistant, Warren Marino. They all really just work on becoming stronger, more confident and more positive children. And who doesn’t need more positivity these days? My son was no exception, and he underwent a major transformation that affected everything from his skill level, to his behavior, to his work ethic, and all the way to his self-confidence.
Astonishingly, even after all he has been through, he built up courage. He started to perform better in the schools. Socially, he was less awkward. He made friends. He had less outbursts and more focus. For once, his teachers called us with good news about his behavior and performance in class. It was such a transformation that he even received an award. This was just brilliant. Excellent. Incredible.
Yet none of this compared to the fact that he was no longer being bullied. He had both the confidence and courage to stand up for himself. As a parent, I was ecstatic! The tears were gone (from both of us). He was no longer scared to go to school. And for the first time since the start of this journey, we both relaxed and felt like everything was going to be okay.
I believe that we owe this to Professor Fusco and his ideas, research, and training. We also owe this to his and Mr. Warren’s teaching. Both of these men have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others. I cannot imagine how we would have ended up if we did not meet at this pivotal moment in life. Every week in the news, I hear about more kids getting bullied and how many of them choose to end their own lives because of it.
The program has made such a difference in our community, and now these truly amazing people with such a positive message are trying to share their message outside of our small community. It is certainly one worth listening to, and it is one that could really make a difference in our society. They created a website called istopbullies (www.istopbullies.com ) as a way to help provide insight into what is happening to our youth, and what they can do to control their fear and take action over their situation. The website combines online courses and martial arts methods to help overcome bullying. Professor Fusco has designed it so kids anywhere can log into the site and learn the same effective techniques he has taught my son.
We value this information and training so much that now my entire family participates in his program -each and every one of us. It has done amazing things for not only my son, but also for me. While I wasn’t bullied, I still benefitted from the program through development of self-confidence and courage. Who wouldn’t want these traits? I honestly want to go shout about it from the rooftops because I feel that he has so much good to offer, and our society will only benefit from it. Please, please go check out his website. Happier, confident children will equal a positive future for our society.
—————————-
I am writing this to share our story and our experiences with everyone. I hope that you will pass this story on and give credit to the real heroes – Professor Mark Fusco and Warren James Marino III. I am not paid or endorsed by the website or the martial arts academy for this. I just want them to get the recognition they deserve for the amazing services they provide. They have changed our lives for the better, and I know that they can help others do the same. It’s nice to know there are still good people in the world. We all need to restore our faith in humanity.
References
http://www.fuscofullcircle.com/index.html
http://www.istopbullies.com/
