BY KELLY URBAN
JEROME — Jon Pritikin knows that bullying can leave lasting emotional and even physical scars because he experienced it firsthand as a child.
Instead of dwelling on the negative, he decided to turn his experience into a positive and founded the nonprofit organization Feel the Power, a program that addresses bullying, peer pressure and the benefits of good character.
Pritikin, of Lodi, Calif., made a stop Wednesday at Conemaugh Township Area Primary School to speak about his childhood and how he overcame a speech problem, childhood hardships and being bullied.
“We all need people to help us out when we go through tough times,” he told the pupils
“Don’t ever believe the lie when someone tells you you aren't good enough,
because you are.”
He went on to encourage the pupils to overcome life obstacles, work hard and never give up.
“Words hurt, and people may put you down or tease you, but you can make it,” Pritikin said.
“So today, let’s reach out to others, be there for one another, let’s be nice and let’s be heroes.”
As part of his inspirational talk, Pritikin opened the assembly by performing feats of strength by bending a steel bar with his teeth, breaking a baseball bat over his leg, ripping a phone book in half and rolling
up a frying pan with his hands – an
accomplishment that earned him a spot
in the 2009 Guinness World Records book.
Pritikin has been performing his uplifting program for 20 years and has spoken to about 3 million students across the U.S. and the world.
