Earlier this week, students from the Jeddah-based Dar Al-Fikr School were given the opportunity to meet with WWE superstars. In return, the students were taught how to tackle bullying as part of WWE's "Be A Star" campaign. The 60 students, ranging from grade 3 to 9, were taken to King Abdullah Sports City Stadium where the superstars awaited their arrival. These included the WWE Champion Big E, SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch, Drew McIntyre, Bianca Belair, Natalya, Finn Bálor, Titus O’Neil, Mustafa Ali, and Mansoor.
The students took part in a handful of activities, including having to introduce themselves before being told to pass a ball of yarn to one another. This happened till the thread encircled the students. Afterwards, the WWE stars told the students about their personal struggles, and how they were able to overcome them.
Mike Rome, the announcer working for WWE, asked the students to show a hand if they had ever experienced bullying. A few did, followed by all the stars raising theirs, hence showing the students that they weren't alone. Other topics such as cyberbullying were discussed in addition to dealing with people's negative opinions, accepting each other for their differences, and how to help other victims of bullying.
Since 2011, "Be A Star" has held over 150 bullying prevention programs, in addition to providing programs and resources to nearly half a million children worldwide. Before going global however, the original curriculum was sketched by the National Education Association Health Information Network and True Educator, Inc. in the United States. Coming to Saudi Arabia sets a milestone for the program's involvement in the region, as the stars were also set to wrestle at WWE's Elimination Chamber in Jeddah.
