Sweethearts & Heroes: Fighting Youth Suicide and Hopelessness

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Living Your Legacy 26 min 3 speakers 8 chapters transcribed
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Thomas Murphy 0:00
We're at war with this thing called hopelessness. 3,041 high schoolers attempt every day in this country. But it's not slowing down, Rudy. It's getting more and more difficult for young people. It's never been harder to be a young person than in the world today. And what are we doing about it? It's a clip. It's a news flash. And then we move on. You know, it's not one thing, man.

How does Thomas Murphy define hopelessness among youth?

Thomas Murphy 0:19
It's the feeling of hopelessness that you can't get out of. Thomas Murphy is a dynamic, purpose-driven and influential leader transforming lives through education and youth development. As the founder of Sweethearts and Heroes, he's built a national movement dedicated to combating hopelessness and equipping people with empathy, courage and the belief that hope holds on because possibilities exist.
Rudy Mawer 0:40
What is it that you're doing to help battle that?
Thomas Murphy 0:43
Circle is probably the most important work that we do. And when you're in circle, you have to listen to people because you're not allowed to talk. A hundred thousand years ago, your ancestors sat in circle and one person started to talk, everybody else would lean forward and they would listen. That's the foundational root of empathy is perspective taking, listening to someone else. We don't do a good job of that anymore. What you want to be known for? I don't want to be known, Rody. I want to create more sweethearts and heroes in our young people. They are the solution. We say our kids are the future. That's a lie. They're not the future. They're our present.
Unknown 1:20
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Unknown 1:42
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Rudy Mawer 1:59
Hello, welcome back to another episode of Legacy Makers. Sat here today with Tom and he's on a big mission, a big mission to change the lives of pretty much every person on the planet. And we're really going to dive into the epic stuff he's doing. He helps impact over a million students and 100 plus schools a year. And he's been doing that for many, many years, Spokat. some of the most prestigious places on the planet and taught his leadership and everything he's going to dive into today. So very excited to have him here. And he's got a big mission. Like I said, I'll save it for him. Tom, welcome. Thank you, Rudy. So we're at war with something you told me a second ago.

What innovative practices does Sweethearts and Heroes implement in schools?

Rudy Mawer 2:35
I want you to explain it and break it down. I didn't want to take it. So go ahead and let's start there. What are we at war with?
Thomas Murphy 2:42
I think it's probably better to tell you how I stumbled on this. I found myself talking to young people after a crazy little reality TV show I did. And a buddy of mine called me kind of in a panic and said, hey, Tom, I'm in trouble. I had this speaker in bullying that was supposed to be here. 900 middle schoolers. I said, can you come and do something on bullying? And I'm like, eh, I guess so. So I came up with this silly little concept called Sweethearts and Heroes, which is a big concept. But after I did that, another school heard about it and said, hey, can you do that at our school? And it just kind of snowballed and I didn't realize what was happening. But at the end of assemblies, I'd find myself turning the lights off, packing up my stuff, and a young person would always sneak back in the room and want to talk to me about what was going on in their life, their challenges that they were having.
Thomas Murphy 3:36
I started to understand that what they were feeling was a certain amount of hopelessness with what was going on in their life. And hope for us has always been hold on, possibilities exist. They were struggling with holding on to the possibilities for their future. And this was 16 years ago. And now we know that the suicide rate with young people in middle schoolers alone have tripled since 2007. 3,041 high schoolers attempt every day in this country. And I think the thing that hit me, the story that I was kind of alluding to initially was, as this work started to unfold, A buddy of mine, I was driving with my daughter.

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