Wrestler delivers anti-bullying message to Red Bank students

Energetic and enthusiastic - professional wrestler visits class in Metepenagiag and tells his story about growing up tough, and says he never forgot a kindness

A group of students at the Metepenagiag School were treated to an energetic and well organized presentation about bullying yesterday.  The event was organized by MSM (Main Stream Wrestling), and the presenter was professional wrestler “Youngblood Cody Blayde”.

Blayde, 22, admits being a troubled youth and turned to wrestling in high school, and later made it a profession.  He has wrestled all over Canada, and now takes pleasure in meeting young people and delivering a message about the importance of confidence and friendship as a means of combating bullying.

Blayde engaged in the kids in question and answer sessions that identified various forms of bullying, and gave helpful tips about how to react if you are targeted by bullies. Blayde promotes a healthy lifestyle and kindness as means to getting the most out of life. He said he never forgot the people who treated him badly when he was young, but also never forgot all the support he received from friends and does his best to pay forward that generosity.

One of the methods Blayde used to drive home the message of the prolonged harm bullying can cause was to invite a student to come up and enact  some bullying on a blank piece of paper. The student pretended to be aggressive and assaulted and insulted the fresh sheet of paper Blayde held up in front of him.  He then had the student crumple the paper and stomp on it. After reducing the paper to a ball of wrinkles, Blayde had the student smooth out the sheet and apologize to it, but Blayde pointed out that the creases in the paper could never be completely corrected.

The kids loved the presentation, and Blayde’s energy was contagious.   MSM has organized three such sessions at local schools, and has two upcoming wrestling matches in Baie Ste-Anne and Doaktown.  You can follow the group on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mainstreamwrestling/