Deion Sanders Touches Down On 50 Cent's Anti-Bullying Stance, "That's Not Snitching"

[Darcy Delaproser]

Written by Cyrus Langhorne
http://bit.ly/ky7OhY 
With rap star 50 Cent recently announcing plans to release a book that frowns upon the act of bullying, SOHH reached out to retired NFL star Deion Sanders for his take on the rapper's move to reach out to the youth.

Referring to a recent anti-bullying discussion he held, Sanders said the topic often goes overlooked.

"Bullying is real and when you really think about these youngsters, statistics show one in three or four are bullied at school, on a team or in their environment," Sanders told SOHH. "We've stated the fact that if you tell, people think it's a form of snitching. That's not snitching. We want to redirect that and channel that in that it's OK to tell your parents, your teachers and responsible adults that's nearby what's going on because it can end up in tragedy and often times it does. So we want to really alarm our kids on how to react if this takes place because in a camp, we have well over 400 kids daily and bullying can take place." (SOHH)

Sanders also believes artists like 50 are making a positive move by promoting anti-bullying.

"I think it's a great step," Sanders said referring to 50 Cent's anti-bullying book. "It's a step in the right direction. It's not the first step but it's a step in the right direction. It's a step that often goes overlooked. It's a very positive step in the right direction." (SOHH)

50's new anti-bullying book is slated to hit stores next year.

Embracing the author credo, write what you know, the multi-platinum, multiple-Grammy-nominated artist will soon publish the semi-autobiographical young adult novel Playground, about a 13-year-old bully who's forced to face what he's done. Published by Razorbill, the novel will be out in January. (Los Angeles Times)

Around mid-June, Sanders spoke to kids at his Texas summer camp about bullying and misconception of snitching.

Deion Sanders told more than 500 children participating in his summer sports camps that telling adults about bullying is not "snitching." "It's preventing a disaster," he said. The children, ages 5 to 14, were ending the first week of the NFL Hall of Famer's TRUTH sports camp, held at Duncanville High School. Sanders said his organization decided to address the topic because "it's something we see in our kids, it's something we see firsthand." (Dallas News)