High School Student Teams Up with Harlem Globetrotters for Anti-Bullying Efforts

Camille Paddock knows about standing up to bullies. She talks to kids daily online and in person to encourage kids to celebrate, not make fun of, their differences. After being bullied for years starting in fourth grade in Huntley, IL, Paddock decided to use her words for good, to help kids be kind to each other.

Patch wrote a story about Cam's Dare to be Different and her anti-bullying efforts in October, and the Harlem Globetrotters organization took notice. They have since teamed up with Paddock to help promote their own "ABC's of Bullying Prevention."

Paddock and the Globetrotters will encourage kids during a special event at 1 p.m. Dec. 17 inside Scammon Elementary, 4201 West Henderson Street, Chicago. 

In advance of two games at Allstate Arena on Dec. 27, Harlem Globetrotters Scooter Christensen and Moose Weeks will speak to approximately 250 students in grades six and seven. Scooter and Moose will bring the team’s “ABCs of Bullying Prevention” to several schools in the Chicago area, according to a release.   

Paddock was a bullied when she was younger as she suffered from Alopecia Areata, an auto-immune disease that causes hair loss and other complications. She started to share her story to inspire other kids, and eventually started the Cam’s Dare to Be Different organization.

Her goals in this area match those of the Globetrotters, who bring the “ABCs of Bullying Prevention” to about 400 a year to speak to children about using Action, Bravery, and Compassion to prevent bullying.