Love for all, Prejudice against none not such a scary idea. We shouldn’t suffer for being different.

The two men couldn’t be more different.

One sports a conservative shirt and tie and conventional haircut befitting his school principal status. The face and arms of the other are covered in tattoos, his blue hair anything but conventional.

Their goal, however, is the same. Zimmerman Senior High-Middle School Principal and  The Scary Guy, are striving to foster respect, love, and acceptance of all people. Mike and Scary were best friends growing up in New Hope, but in the past three decades grew apart, as friends sometimes do.

“After 32 years we’d gone down separate paths,” said the Principal, “but we’re on the same mission,” which was recently presented to Zimmerman Senior High-Middle students. A former tattoo artist, The Scary Guy believes prejudice threatens the strength of the constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by all. The Scary Guy travels around the world educating others on the dangers of prejudice.

“Kids are starting to kill themselves for their difference,” Scary Guy pointed out. Revenge, like prejudice, can also destroy, said Scary Guy. “Talk about a disease on this planet,” he observed. “Everyone’s gotta get someone back.”

The Principal said, “We’ve got to start reaching out hands out to each other and start working together instead of against each other and that’s kind of been my message here.” Since schools do not have the resources they once had, the Principal said, it’s time to students to “start joining with (teachers and staff) to do the best we can with the resources… and start making the teachers more effective for you. And kids have to start this whole movement of watching what comes out of their mouths or (things are) never going to change.”

Scary challenged the Zimmerman students to not say anything negative or call anyone a derogatory name for seven days and seven nights. But since we are only human, he added, it is to be expected that slip-ups will happen. When they do, it is important to apologize and make amends. The Scary Guy has worked with people worldwide promoting peace, respect, love, and acceptance of all people worldwide.