Australian Secondary Schools Rugby teams give knockout punch to bullys in schools

The Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League teams will be heading the Papua New Guinea with an extra focus in mind this weekend.

The Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League teams will be heading the Papua New Guinea with an extra focus in mind this weekend.

The teams will be wearing a BullyProof Australia logo on their jerseys when they take on some of the best PNG clubs.

BullyProof Australia is about changing the culture towards bullying and mental health at every school in Australia.

Former Australian boxer Jeff Horn said it is amazing to see the schools teams get behind such a cause.

AMAYDA Resilience founder Jeff Horn with rugby stars Nadia Windleborn and Ebony Raftstrand-Smith. Picture: Supplied

“The school boys and girls put their hands up to say yes they are happy to promote us on their shirt,” Horn said.

“I think it is the first time they have done it and it is an amazing opportunity to put our name out there and show the good works we are doing in schools.”

The former WBO Welterweight champion started Amayda Resilience within BullyProof Australia five years ago after realising how big of an issue suicide was becoming in kids at school.

“After going through a tough time in school and having those suicidal thoughts at time and that is coming from a kid who had a good loving family and good friends around me.

“I understand how kids are taking their lives when things go downhill for them at times and that is from bullying.

“We are trying to make a difference and trying to stop that and give the kids the tools to be able to manage the conflict in a different way.”

The Amayda Resilience program is a unique program that takes a very deep probe into the underlying problems of bullying and mental health and address them in an all-inclusive way.

Horn and fellow members of the program believe that schools should be a place where students, teachers and admin staff feel safe, appreciated, respected, liked and happy, which is an ideal learning environment that improves academic performance is.

“What we are doing now is teaching people what bullying actually is and recognise it and then be able to fix it with strategies that work,” Horn said

“These strategies can work for anyone who is encountering a situation and it is important we just get in front of as many kids as possible.

“We don’t know which ones are the ones that are struggling, so teaching everyone how to manage it, even the tough ones out there.

“We want to spread the message so that everyone is standing side-by-side to stop the bullying.”