October is Bullying Prevention Month, and Sean Gilham of Impact Martial Arts hopes to help bring awareness to the issue.

Gilham said he has several efforts planned in the spirit of the month.

First, Gilham said he would like to continue giving bullying prevention presentations at local schools.

He visited several local schools last year, and this year he sent letters for Impact Martial Arts students to give to their teachers about the possibility of Gilham speaking to individual classes or entire schools.

Gilham said the focus of his presentations is to “inspire a community of youth and families who are educated and motivated to end bullying in their lives.”

“Everyone deserves to put bullying to the side and live their lives and stand up for what they believe in,” he said.

Gilham said he’s received positive feedback from students after giving the presentations.

“I encourage them to find different ways to stand up for themselves, talk to somebody about it and know that they’re not alone in any of this,” Gilham said.

Education representatives interested in talking to Gilham about giving a presentation should contact Impact Martial Arts at sgilham@pelhamtaekwondo.com or (205) 266-0732.

Also, at the Thorsby Swedish Festival on Oct. 10, Gilham and Impact Martial Arts will hold interactive demonstrations.

Though the times of the demonstrations haven’t been set, Gilham said the first demonstration would focus on lessons learned at Impact and include himself, Impact students and the audience.

A second demonstration would focus on bullying and again incorporate participation from those in attendance.

Impact Martial Arts representatives will offer another demonstration with the public at the booth they’ll have set up at the festival, which is centered around Thorsby’s Richard Wood Park.

Then, Impact Martial Arts is offering free “bully defense” workshops on Oct. 22 at Cornerstone Fitness and Wellness, which is located at 110 Baker Avenue in Clanton.

Workshops are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. for ages 6-8, 5:30 p.m. for ages 9-12, and 6:30 p.m. for teens and adults.

Anyone interested in attending one of the workshops can contact Gilham at the email address or phone number listed above, or just show up.

“Our goal is to inspire the entire community to help end bullying,” Gilham said. “We know that bullying is such a huge thing. One out of four people are bullied, and that’s too many.”

For more information about bullying prevention, including videos and tips, visit the Hyper Bully Defense website at hyperbullydefense.com.