THE KARATE KID's Johnny Lawrence Gives Great Anti-Bullying Talk
Billy Zabka, the actor who played the bully Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid, recently gave an anti-bullying talk. He was the keynote speaker at a dojo in Clarysville for their second annual Anti-Bullying Day. Zabka also brought along his friend Rob Garrison, who played "Get him a body bag!" Tommy. When talking about bullying in relation to the film, Zabka said:
“We were bullying, but we were also bullied. There’s a saying: ‘a bully is a victim whose story has not yet been told,’ so there’s not just black and white.”
He went on to use Johnny as an example, saying:
"There’s people who’re dishing out what’s being given to them at home. Not to excuse their behavior, but that’s why the behavior has to stop; because it’s cyclical and it progresses and it reaches us and it may be in us, but it needs to stop … Where’s Johnny’s dad? Where’s Johnny’s mom? Kreese is his dad. Who’s Kreese? He’s a guy who has his own issues. He’s got control of all these kids and teaching them a certain way. You have Mr. Miyagi who’s teaching right and Kreese who’s teaching wrong."
He points out a lot of great stuff about bullying that we see all the time. One of the other things he points out is the bullying scenes in the movie, and how there are “a whole wall of people there. There’s the bully, the targeted, and the witnesses, and they stood by.” I hate seeing those videos of people being bullied and no one does anything about it.
I love that Zabka is using his iconic role in The Karate Kid to go out in the world and share a positive message with people.
I've had my fair share of bullying in my lifetime, and I still get it sometimes, especially online. It's also something I see my kids deal with all the time. I hate bullying, and I just wish people could be a little more kind to one another.
Zabka gives a great talk, and I strongly suggest that you check it out. It's something I'll definitely be sharing with my own kids.
Via: Polygon