Earnest Hart, Jr. Brings Anti-Bully, Anti-Drug Message to School Kids

By B. W. Durham

Earnest Hart, Jr. grew up with guns and knives in his family’s house and diving into a cast iron bathtub for protection when shooting started on the street outside.

As a black kid in St. Louis housing projects, he was bullied by gangs until he mastered boxing, judo and jujitsu and became a kickboxing champion who toured the world, appeared in Hollywood movies and consulted for famous actors and athletes.

Hart’s devotion to self-discipline and self-control, learned through years of practicing martial arts, helped him escape those perilous streets of his childhood. Today, in presentations and seminars, Hart shares his non-violent approach to help school kids recognize danger, avoid being bullied, enhance their own personal safety and say no to drugs.

He’s been sharing this message since the 1990s when he became a motivational speaker, personal safety expert and trainer whose methods focus on helping people become more self-confident and deal with conflict in non-violent ways.

“Many black kids see violence, death and drugs in their neighborhoods and don’t feel they have a way out,” says Hart. “Many black kids are raised in a single-parent household by their mother who is struggling so the family can eat.

“It’s hard for those kids to believe they can grow up to be successful when no one is there to give them guidance. If you want to see black kids or white kids start thinking differently about their situation, they need to see positive role models.”

Hart explains, “Many kids, black or white, worry about getting bullied or beat up. Many of them fear any type of confrontational situation with another kid, and many are tempted to try doing drugs that can kill or simply ruin a life.

“But if you help kids develop self confidence, self respect, most can deal with bullying situations without fighting, getting hurt, and grow up without messing with drugs.”

On a Mission

“I have worked young people for over 20 years,” says Hart, who today is married with two grown children. “I am on a mission to educate people about bullying and violence in America’s schools and college campuses, and to train students how to recognize dangerous scenarios and avoid putting themselves in risky situations.”

Bullying incidents in St. Louis and nationwide prompted Hart, who early in his career consulted with actors George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Willem Dafoe, to launch a series of anti-bullying and safety seminars for kids in elementary school, high school and college.

“Kids who do drugs often get their friends into drugs. Kids who are bullied become adults who bully others. And then bad things happen,” says Hart.

“One of my approaches is to teach self-reliance and how to deal with human behavior like bullying, sexual violence, being tempted by drugs and exposed to abuse,” says Hart, has a black belt in 15 different martial arts.

Hart’s anti-bullying and anti-drug personal safety seminars focus on developing self assurance, awareness of potential risks and knowing how to avoid harm. He does not “lecture.” His interactive approach uses demonstrations and instructive methods to promote self respect and personal growth. It is a message that connects with – and resonates -- with students of all ages.

When conducting presentations in schools one advantage for Hart is that he appeared in a number of Hollywood movies, including “Batman & Robin” -- many kids consider him an action hero.

“I educate people about the realities of today’s violent and abusive society, and help them prepare to respond safely, effectively and become good human beings,” says Hart.

Hart’s anti-bullying and personal safety seminars for schools complement his programs for businesses, corporations, police departments and global travelers. He is often asked to conduct private training sessions for families. He also appears at community organizations to spread his anti-bullying, anti-drug message.

“In St. Louis there is a lot of black-on-black crime, black kids killing each other. We need for more Afro-American role models doing positive things, and want to make a positive difference.

“I know that many kids in both white neighborhoods and downtown neighborhoods have self-esteem problems because no one is looking out for them; they don’t have a focus. So they join a gang, or worse.

“I have been fortunate to work with kids from every type of background. I have seen undisciplined kids become disciplined. I have seen teenagers without goals start setting good goals for themselves. When young people develop self discipline, self confidence, self esteem and self control, it lasts for life.”

Hart recently addressed 100 fifth graders at Premier Charter School in the city of St. Louis on the topic of building self confidence and self reliance to live a safer, more fulfilling life. Premier Charter School’s 900-plus students come from every zip code in the city and speak 12 different languages.

“Earnest’s message to our fifth graders was multi-fold,” says Julie Leftridge, the Teacher-Leader at Premier who helped arrange Hart’s appearance. “He focused on building self worth and self esteem, and how you can use your own personal self worth and self esteem to avoid and discourage bullying situations.”

“We know that people who lack self esteem and self worth often get bullied,” says Leftridge, adding, “Bullying is a systematic imbalance of power. Bullies use that imbalance of power in an effort to (control) and throw off another student or person and keep them in a position of inequality.”

“Earnest has an informative, interactive style of presentation that engaged our kids -- he got the message across,” asserts Leftridge, calling Ernest’s presentation a “model of good character development -- Earnest put a pre-emptive, positive message in place.”

Hart believes that “prevention is 90 percent of self-preservation in today’s world.” Skills such as understanding how to carry oneself in a positive way; reading body language in other people; identifying risks and dangers; non-verbal and verbal behavior skills; de-escalation methods; controlling fear; and knowing how to escape a potentially bad situation are all part of Hart’s message to the world.

“Everyone should have practical knowledge about how to avoid conflict and be safe,” Hart says. “It starts with developing more self respect and self confidence, and feeling good about who you are.”

I endorse Earnest Hart, Jr.’s non-violent methods because I have seen how successful they can be. Years ago, when my teenage son was dealing with various issues in school, I engaged Earnest as a personal safety trainer. Earnest helped my son develop more self confidence, heightened personal awareness and better safety instincts. The results: his grades and his attitude improved.

Earnest is an asset for people of all ages in our troubled society. To learn more about Earnest and his anti-bully, anti-drug, anti-violent outlook, go to: http://earnesthart.weebly.com/. Or call him at 636 537 0078.

***