WEBVTT - Listen: Jonotthan Harrison (10/8) 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:05.199 Welcome back to another edition of the Jets Official Podcast. 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.480 Here in the Playing GM Studios. Jonathan Harrison in studio, 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:16.600 Thanks for coming up, Florida game. Yeah, I knew there's 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.480 gonna come. Let's move you out of here, bringing Marcus 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:24.480 May and people as well. Let's get this going right now. 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:29.360 We don't need where's this love for your undergraduate school? 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.199 Don't worry about it if you yeah, that's right, if 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.320 you have an advance. Okay, what's your most recent degree? 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:43.320 University of Florida, Masters of Mass Communication. Hey, you can 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.559 take that title, you can. Yeah, it's all yeah, no doubt, Okay, 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:50.440 that more power to you. I don't share the gator love, 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.600 you know. I'll root for you on Saturdays because we're 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:58.120 in different conferences. Gator bait, you know, so don't get 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:00.680 in our way. No one wants to play this Ere's 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:05.120 orange anyway. Okay, So that gator bait might be like 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:09.600 the equivalent of to a school of fish. At least 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.920 you can say you guys have good colors something. Yeah, yeah, 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:16.720 that's fair. I will I will agree with that, all right, Jonathan. 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.840 There's so much that I feel like we know about 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.720 you that we want to tell fans about. But you 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.440 mentioned it earlier to me off off camera that you 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.120 were in the city today doing an interview for Stomp 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.959 Out Bullying. So just to paint the picture here, you 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.840 went from being bullied as a kid to being a 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:37.520 bully on the offensive. Lot, Like, it's weird to think, 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.000 obviously that someone your size, which is the play and 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:45.640 stomp Out Bullying, was bullied as a kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.560 I definitely am. I definitely get that a lot, And 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.720 I think a lot of it came from, you know, 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.800 in my household, my parents did not promote violence. Like 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.600 there was no there's no weapons, there was no like 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.240 we didn't really watched like violent movies or like you know, 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.440 action films or anything like that. Like that was just 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.640 that was just the way they were. And um and 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:05.400 my mom, like I remember, she would always tell me, 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.480 She's like, you can't retaliate against the people that are 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.280 messing with you, picking on you, whatever it was, because 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.600 you can actually hurt them. And like I accidentally hurt 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.600 my friends all the time, you know, like everyone's like, 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:18.959 you know, boys growing up, you're wrestling rough house and 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.200 jumping on the trampoline. I've broken an elbow someone else's 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:26.560 elbow broken, someone else's ankle. You know, like we weren't fighting, 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.919 we were just like playing like friends, and like so 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.880 she's like, she like would emphasize that. She's like, you 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:34.919 don't understand like how large you are compared to the 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:37.799 kids your age, So I don't want you to retaliate. 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:39.600 And she's like, it's not worth it. You know, it's really, 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.200 it's really not worth it. You'll look back at this 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.880 when you're older and you'll you'll probably laugh, and you know, 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:45.960 you'll think, like, these guys look foolish for messing and 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.840 when with you? When they did? When did the bowling start? 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.600 For you? Though? Because reading your story you had appointed 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:57.160 in my words and New York just dot com and 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.200 yourself it's in my words. Yeah, I understand of that, 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.880 but I helped him. Okay, this is not the Green Show. 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.560 I gotta get you talking gators. I gotta get something 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:17.000 in there. What stood out? It feels like that, yes, bollying, 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.679 but some of that felt like racism as well. Correct. Yeah, yeah, 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.960 there's definitely. Um so when did it start? What happened? 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.720 I'm trying to think, Um, I I always point to 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.000 fifth grade, you know, fifth grade of my first year 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.640 in this new area that I moved to in central Florida. 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.000 You know, I was born in South Florida, you know, 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:38.480 moved around a little bit down there, and my parents 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:40.920 will travel nurses, so they would take you know, a 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:42.680 year assignment here, two years of time in here, and 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.320 just kind of bounce around, and eventually one of the 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:47.840 assignments took them to Orlando, So we did Orlando for 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:50.960 a year. Didn't really have any issues in Orlando. Moved 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.200 about an hour west of Orlando for fifth grade through 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:56.640 the rest of high school, and that's when I slowly 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.600 started like noticing things at you know, know, there was 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:02.040 there was a couple of times. There's a couple of 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:04.200 times when like you know, like like true like racial 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.360 slurs or something would come out. I'm not gonna say 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.320 it was all the time or very frequent, but it 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:13.200 was just an odd coincidence that you know, me being 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:15.720 you know, the race that I am and all of 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.200 that in the class was the main person getting picked on, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:21.400 you know by like the same group of guys for 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.000 a couple of years and stuff like that. So it 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.080 was just and you know, I even experienced it from 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.120 like a teacher, you know, the teacher, like, I'll just 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.239 be completely honest. There was three black kids in my class, 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.640 and we were all in the enrichment program. So that's 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.920 that's stating that, you know, we're a little advanced, you know, 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:40.760 so exactly that that's what it's stating. But then you know, 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.800 there's an English teacher that failed the three of us 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.600 in in her her English class. And we had each 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:51.680 of us had straight a's in each of our other 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.560 subjects and an F in her class, not like a 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.559 C or something like that, and F. And no matter 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.680 what we did, we would still have an. And I 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.600 would compare my test to someone else's test. I should 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.360 have the same grade day have I still had enough? 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.280 And then so like you know, I end up. Um 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.279 so I'm kind of like trailing right now. But um 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.080 like I ended up the graduating or the end of 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.200 middle school. I couldn't graduate because I failed English. And 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:20.440 so you know, I'm like, all right, I'm going to 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:22.360 summer school. And I told my mom. Of course she's 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.240 she's furious. She was like, like, where are you slacking 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:26.719 off in school? Like why why are you going to 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.919 summer school? And um so, I was like you know, 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:31.160 I just gotta do it so I can graduate go 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.400 to high school. So I'm in summer classes and the 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.120 first day I'm there, I forget if it was the 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.080 principal or the vice principle, but whoever was at the 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.120 school he saw him. He's like, what the hell are 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.960 you doing here? And I'm like, you know, I failed English, 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:45.960 so you know I'm here for summer school. He's like, 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.680 there's no way that's possible. So he calls my mom 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:50.840 on spot and he's like, come get your son out 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.520 of summer school. He's not supposed to be here. And 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.360 then my mom came, yeah, yeah, yeah, my mom came 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.479 grabbed me out of the summer school. Like that was that. 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:00.240 That was that, And then we like put two two 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.560 together and like, no, this teacher really had like an 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:07.160 issue with you. But but no one realized. No one 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.240 else from the school realized that that teacher was doing 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.600 that or saw I guess, I guess I'm a little 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.520 surprised at maybe the principle or the vice principle, whoever 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.279 it was, it slipped through the cracks up until summer school. 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.520 It wasn't like he was looking at the grades and 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.120 then all of a sudden was like, WHOA, what's going 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:25.080 on here? Let me get ahead of it. It happened 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.479 once you were literally in a seat in summer school. 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.760 That's crazy. And I know that you had also talked 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.599 about on your way. I don't remember the story you 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:39.240 told me, but something about every day going to lunch 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:43.920 and there was a hill. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I honestly 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:46.839 like earlier today, I'll get back to that, but earlier 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:48.400 today I was kind of just like I call it 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:50.320 black holing, like I'm just going to like memories in 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.560 my head. I'm like, man, I've really just like trapped 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:57.960 away and like filed. But I gotta imagine when you 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:01.720 go to these schools that because this means so much 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:09.040 to you, is that all these memories gotta we're talking 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.480 about this and and the great thing about you is 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:16.640 you're willing to share your experience. Um definitely, Um, definitely. 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:18.640 There's some triggers going to the schools and anything. You know, 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.960 I don't lose my mind, but I'm just like wow that, like, man, 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:23.800 like I really thought this was okay what I was 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:25.840 going through at the time, like you know, just part 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.720 of growing up type thing, but it really wasn't. Um, 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:31.920 and that's why, you know, I'm gonna try to, you know, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:33.760 make a difference. However, you can try to make a 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:38.679 stand because it's it's behavior that's truly, truly inappropriate, behavior 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.160 that can really affect somebody for the rest of their life. 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.800 And um, well, yeah, the one story you're referring to, 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:48.400 this one, I'm not gonna say it was like it 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:50.600 was like a racing or anything, but this one was 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.960 more of me being a very large guy. Same height, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.040 same height, and eighth grade, same height. I am now 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:00.200 two seventy pounds though, so you know, I'm I'm like 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.640 thirty pounds heavier, but same height, and um, you know, 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.240 I'm a really big kid. And I didn't play any sports. 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.720 I tried out for every sport team in middle school, 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.240 didn't make any of the teams. And I was a musician. 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:14.720 Like going into the middle school, I was a musician already, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.679 So let me continue playing the French horn and the guitar. 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.000 I don't see anything wrong with it. You know, it's 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:23.120 a cool skill to have. But um, you know, definitely 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.800 definitely got made fun of for being this huge kid 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.560 in the band, you know, band NERD all that stuff. Blah, 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.520 blah blah. And there was a group of like the 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.360 athletic middle schoolers, because there's no true like jocks in 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.280 middle school. You know, it's like the athletic middle school 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.439 was that played Pop Warner football, that play Little League 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.360 basketball or whatever, you know, and um, and they just 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:44.839 thought it was funny. You know, I'm coming down the 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.440 hill going to lunch, and our lunch line would get 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.440 so long because there's multiple cities that went to this 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.160 one middle school. So our lunch line would get so 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:55.880 long that if you weren't one of the first I 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:57.800 don't know, a hundred people whatever it was in line, 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.240 you weren't getting food. The bell would ring you about 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.040 the class of no food. It's not they would run 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.439 out of food. The lines were just that long. So 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.400 it was a thing. It was a thing to always 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.080 like pre set your locker, and so you get out 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.760 of class, your lockers already set, throw your books in there, 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.319 and you're gone. You're booking it to lunch. And then 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:16.079 every day, like I'm coming down the hill, I'd run 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:17.839 the same way. It was the fastest route to lunch, 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.559 and I'd see the group of um, the group of 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:22.839 I was. I was a little bit younger. So the 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:24.920 group of upper class and the eighth graders coming up 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.400 the hill and I see his one big kid. He's like, 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.560 oh yeah, oh yeah, hold my books, hold my books, 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.320 and then just come charging at me. And I mean, 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:34.120 like first time, I just took it like he came, 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.800 just dropped the shoulder bomb, you know, just knocked me, 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:39.040 knocked me on my back. I'm stuffed up all this stuff. 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:43.120 Everyone's laughing or whatever. The interview just wanted to baul 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.120 my eyes out when I'm like, I gotta look tough, 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:46.360 you know, I gotta look tull. So it just kind 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.200 of like dust myself off, keep going on lunch, and 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.319 then you know, like it just kept getting worse, like 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.320 it would turn into like a game for him. So 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:55.240 I'd like jump over the railing. I'm running in the 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.200 grass like all this stuff, trying to get away from this. 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.120 And they just thought it was so funny, just like 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.320 just knocked me on my tail. Every single day. Well, like, yeah, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.120 that was that was definitely. I was one of the things. 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.400 And I didn't think much of it at the time. 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.680 I almost thought it was like my passage to becoming 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.400 an eighth grader. Eventually to becoming a high schooler eventually. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.559 And but how did you cope? Because you talk about 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:22.280 your parents and your mother telling you, listen, Jonathan, you 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.280 can't fight back. We're not going to do that. How 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.480 were you able to deal with it? And I guess 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.040 part B of that would be what do you tell 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:35.600 the kids now we're dealing with it. I didn't deal 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.400 with it well. I just kept viewing it as you know, oh, 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:41.880 this is all right. Everybody goes through it, you know, 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:43.880 so I would just tuck it inside. But then that 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:45.760 you know, all this is going on, and it's just 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.160 crushing my confidence, you know, Like I walked like hunched 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.440 over and like I wouldn't look anyone in the eye 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:52.920 when I was talking to them, just like little things 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:57.200 will just keep crushing my confidence. So the way I 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.360 handled it, I just kind of like just dealing with it, 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:04.880 just like accepting it got me through, got me through school. 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.080 But I will honestly admit that I know it affected 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:11.840 me more than like I'll ever let on and um, 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:13.760 and I see it in like like daily life and 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.240 like certain times that I just feel like anxious for 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.240 no reason. Even to this day, there's times like when 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.000 I go do these talks at the schools, and I 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.000 just like I'm almost having like an anxiety attack just 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.080 because I'm like, you know, like what are these kids 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.560 thinking about me? Like this is that? Like and I 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:33.199 know a lot of that stems from, you know, all 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:34.920 this stuff that like people would say to me or 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.360 mess with me about or whatever growing up. And and 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.240 I'm much I'm much better now, of course, but it's 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:43.960 definitely yeah, yeah, it's one of It's one of those 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.200 things that like like I look at society now and 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.240 I look at the access kids have the social media, 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:51.959 and that's just a whole another I didn't have to 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:54.400 worry about social media, so like I could only imagine 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:55.600 what it would be like if I had to worry 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.959 about social media. And like the best thing I can 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.480 say is like, don't you think it's normal and just 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.240 deal with it or don't say anything. Don't think that 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:06.400 you're being like a snitch or a tattle tale or 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.280 anything like that for speaking up, Like no, like speak 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.320 up for yourself because it's a former like standing up 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.280 for yourself, like you're not you're not snitching. Like if 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.480 someone keeps I don't know, like I'm literally like making 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:19.320 something because someone keeps like throwing stuff that you were 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.280 spinning spitballs at you, and it's bothering you. You're not 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.040 approving of that, Go say something to someone, Like, if 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:27.720 you're not comfortable enough to like approach this person's face 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:29.720 to face, go say someone to something. Tell tell your 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.640 friend to tell somebody, Go tell the teacher, go find 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.520 like just nonchalantly, like you know, I'm not trying to 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:37.800 cause a scene, but you know so and so is 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.040 doing X, Y and Z and it's really bothering me. 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.480 How difficult is it, though, to try to get in 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:45.760 the mind of a middle school, because I'm thinking about 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.120 when I was in middle school and you don't want 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.680 to be the snitch because of what you're talking about 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:53.800 the athletic middle school ors what. And if you're in 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:57.839 a small school, then everyone's gonna know that it's you, 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.679 whereas you can almost be law in the crowd in 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.079 a larger school. So how difficult is it to get 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.320 into the mind of middle school? And what do you 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.360 think is the most effective way to do so? Because 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.680 I have to imagine it's one on one versus maybe 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:16.840 a larger group. Yeah, and it's definitely one of those things. Um, 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.480 Nobody wants to be that snitch. You know, nobody wants 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.520 to be that because then you're even less cool than 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.400 you feel before. You probably don't even like that term exactly. Nobody, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.360 Like nobody wants to be that person. Um, but we 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:30.920 got to look out for each other. You have to 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:32.880 look out for each other. That's the thing. So I 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:37.800 feel like the best thing is ensuring within the school 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.760 that there's a you know, a group of kids, a 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:45.080 group of people that are kind of designated to handle 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.640 that situation where it's like a safe zone. Almost I 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:50.400 didn't have a safe my safe zone with my mom 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:54.000 and my stepdad, you know, going home. Um, But like 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.880 I feel like like developing that group, you know, whether 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.760 it's a teacher, whether it's a principle nominating certain students 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.520 that they know can uphold that standard, you know, and 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:06.960 they know that they know what the right thing to do, 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:09.480 like a group of kids like that, Like I I 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.440 can like picture and I'm like, you know, six kids, 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.160 whoever's getting bully goes up to these six kids like, hey, 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.160 look like I need some help, and all six of them, 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.160 all seven of them or whatever you want to do, 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:22.760 like go over and like talk to his bully. I 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.080 go talk to them like, hey, look like that's not cool. Like, 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:26.720 I know it makes you feel cool, but it makes 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:30.000 this person feel like crap. You know, like something like 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:32.440 that would be like great. You just mentioned the dangers 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:37.360 of the social media. How often do you now as 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:42.280 a professional athlete, a guy who's overcome some of his 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.359 fears and his anxieties to get to this point professionally, 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.240 And also look at what you're doing personally? How much 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:53.240 time do you spend on social media? So me, personally, 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.600 I'm not great with keeping up with social media, but 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.920 I know that I need to be involved with so 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.920 social media to to kind of like reach reach the 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.840 audience that I'm trying to reach. And so I'm trying 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:07.640 to do a better job, you know, getting more involved 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.680 with social media and posting positive things, are keeping it light, whatever, 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:15.200 just showing a little insight to my life. And um, 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:17.640 like I do that more for work, you know, I 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.680 do that more for work. But if it's not work related, 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.200 then people are just on there, you know, the brows 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.680 they're scrolling, you know, scrolling the gram whatever it is. 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:31.160 And that's what gets people in trouble, is like the 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.960 scrolling and and like there's a long, long trail to 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.840 this long story short, like you know, a kid seeing 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.160 what a person, what social media is painting for like 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.560 the typical human being to be. Kids are seeing this, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.160 especially like young girls and stuff. They're seeing, you know, 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.560 you know, the beautiful people of the world, and they're like, Okay, 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.240 well that's what I'm supposed to look like, but I 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.920 don't look like that, so I'm ugly. Okay. Then god 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:03.880 A comes around and says something about you know that girl, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:05.840 you know, makes fun of that girl, says her hair 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:09.240 looks funnier or whatever, her shoes whatever, knocks her down 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:12.040 a couple more notches. And then that rumor goes through 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:13.520 the school knocks her down a couple more you know 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.680 what I mean. Like so just like a like a 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.800 snowball effect, all based on like what people are visioning as, 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.240 like what people should be, what society should be from 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:26.760 social media. You know. It's like a it's like an 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:33.160 exaggerated image of like society on social media, if that 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.040 makes any sense. Yeah, I had a classmate, Um I 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.560 had to transfer schools because you of cyber bully and 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.000 that what one of them, the two people involved one 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:46.480 of them stayed and one of them had to go. 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.880 And it's just one of the things where to your point, 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.960 even at my age, I didn't quite have that experience 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.240 with Instagram or Twitter and any of that because it 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.960 wasn't in full force yet. But I can only imagine 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.120 in what kind of effect they would have had on 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.600 me or anybody else that I know for that matter, 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.960 because it's it's terrifying to think about. And I'm sure 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.280 that's one of the things where it's difficult for you 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.120 to talk about because you didn't quite go through the 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.919 social media phase of it. But at the same time, 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.119 you're more wise with it because you're older than a 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:25.280 middle schooler obviously, and on that on that note, it's funny, 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:29.960 not funny, but it's interesting that even as a professional athlete, 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.639 I still get cyber bullied, you know, like, yeah, you 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.400 have to you have to do, you know what I mean, 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.639 Like like so like I'll like, I'll be completely honest, 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:42.959 Like I got a message like yesterday out of nowhere, 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.840 like I was just I didn't I didn't follow this person. 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.040 I didn't like any of their pictures, Like oh, you know, 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:53.159 the Jets sucked. I'm like was that necessary? Yeah, you 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:54.440 know what I mean, like, this is my job, this 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.520 is my livelihood. Like what made you go out of 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.600 your way to write this stranger such of like you know, 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.240 like a harassing message, you know, like that's so rude. 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:07.080 But the only difference is as an adult now I 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.280 know that you know this will pass, Like I know 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.440 that you know those are just words, and I can 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.520 see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.080 different when you know a younger person is getting that 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.560 when you're your teenage or adolescent years are the most 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.280 important years of your life at that time. I feel 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.080 there are just a lot of unhappy people out there 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:31.960 for whatever reason. I second that, and and and social 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:37.000 media tends to amplify that. And you know, instead of 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:42.160 I guess going off social media completely because we can't, uh, 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:44.080 I do think we can take The message from you 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.560 is that we don't remind people what's positive out there, 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.840 you know, because it seems like the things that are 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.840 going to grab attention are are the solaceous things or 0:18:56.880 --> 0:19:00.959 the crazy comments and threats and things of that nature. 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:05.840 And uh, sports sometimes there's a microcosm of what we've 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:11.920 seen in life. Yes, yes, for sure, Um, yeah, yeah, 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:15.360 there's there's there's not enough positivity out there right now. 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:19.000 There's too much negativity, and it's easy to be negative. 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:20.600 It's easier, like you wake up on the wrong side 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:22.280 of the better, you stub your toe or whatever, like 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.360 it's easy just to be negative, just to be angry. 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.000 But like if everyone just worked to try to be positive, 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.120 you know, try to just be nicer to people and like, like, 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:32.480 like I try to tell some of the kids I 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:34.840 talked to him, like, you're not gonna like everybody. Everyone's 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.159 not gonna like you. But that doesn't mean you have 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:38.560 to go out of your way to say something to 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.960 that person. You're entitled to your opinion, you know what 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.280 I mean, to yourself, Like, but you don't go insult 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:47.320 that person because they're entitled to do as they want 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.800 as well. You know. So it's just well, it's just 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:54.240 one of those things that you know, there's no true, 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:58.000 true solution, there's nothing like there's no quick fix or 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:00.760 anything like that. But you know, we can just, you know, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:02.919 one person at a time just kind of get on 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:06.440 board with with this positivity train. You know, I feel like, 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:10.640 how happy are you you're using this platform to go 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:14.920