OCEAN CITY — In honor of National Bullying Prevention Month, a local resident and advocate this week was honored by the Mayor and Council with a special proclamation.
For years, Adriano “Bubba” Almony has been a fierce advocate for anti-bullying in the local community. Almony, who grew up in Ocean City and graduated from Stephen Decatur High School, is a career professional bodyguard, protecting some high-profile celebrities including Muhammad Ali and his family, for example.
On Monday, Mayor Rick Meehan read into the record a proclamation recognizing October as National Bullying Prevention Month and Almony’s anti-bullying efforts locally. Almony recently hosted a celebrity basketball tournament in Worcester County to raise funds and awareness for the campaign. He serves as the U.S. chairman for the personal safety and anti-bullying organization Bodyguards Against Bullying.
“He’s a local guy,” said Meehan. “He’s a Stephen Decatur graduate and he’s become an important advocate in the community to educate all of us about bullying and some of the consequences of that and trying to make this a better place in Worcester County.”
For his part, Almony said he was simply trying to raise awareness about bullying in his home community and beyond.
“A lot of people think were just in a pandemic of COVID-19 right now, but we have a pandemic everyday of bullying,” he said. “It’s unlike any challenge or obstacle I’ve ever faced. When we sleep at night, or are sitting back enjoying our time, the bullies don’t stop.”
Almony said it was important to raise awareness about bullying at its source.
“Most importantly, a lot of people just think it’s the victims, but we have to address the bully’s behavior as well,” he said. “If we don’t, we still have bullies out there wreaking havoc.”
Almony said his anti-bullying efforts were tireless.
“This means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s not just to come up here and get an award. I have to tirelessly keep on with the efforts. This community needs to come together and have zero tolerance for bullying, whether it’s in our school system or our work environment.”
He pointed out people’s perceptions of bullying are from the school yard, but it’s a larger issue than that.
“People think bullying just happens in the playground or in school,” he said. “Bullying can happen in any place at any time to young people and older people. It has no place in our culture. It’s the second-leading cause of suicide and the signs of suicide often go unnoticed. We all have to do our part.”
