January 25, 2007 Issue                                       

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©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mt. Airy’s ‘Tigerman’ is a superhero to bullied children
by AUDREY LEVINE

Mark “Tigerman” Ciarlanti, without the makeup.

Children look to different fictional super heroes for guidance, like Superman, who flies through the clouds while saving civilians, or Spiderman, who spins elaborate webs to ensnare criminals.

But Mt. Airy resident Mark Ciarlante, aka “Tigerman,” is a real-life super hero who uses creativity to protect children from violence. “I believe kids need a positive superhero role model,” said Ciarlante, who uses Tigerman to teach kids about bully prevention and safety.

When Mark was a child, he was a tap dancer, and his peers would tease and abuse him. Instead of choosing violence to fight back, Ciarlante used makeup to paint his face and create Tigerman, an act that would lead to his opportunity to help others brutalized by bullies.

“I wanted to be a superhero,” he said.

According to Ciarlante, he chose the tiger to be his representative animal because of the colors and the sound the animal makes. “I love the roar,” he said. “It’s ‘rah.’ Reject all hate.”

Ciarlante did not bring Tigerman out to the public until 2000, when violence in schools became prevalent in the news. “I was personally ready. I wanted to teach kids they have to respect each other.”

Ciarlante now travels to different schools as Tigerman, performing songs and interacting with students to teach them about preventing violence, as well as environmental safety, fire safety and other ways of protecting themselves without resorting to violence.

One of Tigerman’s supporters is Stedman Graham, better known as Oprah Winfrey’s companion.

In addition, when Ciarlanti speaks to kids, normally in grades pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, they tell him that bullying is what bothers them the most in school.

“I tell the kids they have to help Tigerman,” he said. “They have to change the world.”

Ciarlante also said it is important to reach children when they are young because they are still impressionable and are absorbing everything they see around them.

“(These ages) are when the baggage is handed to them,” he said. “The older they are, the harder they are to reach.”

Now, Ciarlante also has his own 30-minute television show once a week on the Philadelphia School District’s network, which shows segments of his performances at schools. In the episodes, he discusses school bus safety, fire safety and bully prevention, among other topics. He is paid for his shows, which helps keep his non-profit corporation, TMProductions, going. “Funding is tough, though,” he insists.

In the future, Ciarlante said he would like to have a national television show that features him on a world tour performing for between 50 and 100 kids at a time. “That way I will be able to reach more kids,” he said.

In addition to the television show, Ciarlante has created a Tigerman literacy program, which gives out books, t-shirts and other items to encourage reading. Stedman Graham, entrepreneur and companion of Oprah Winfrey, has been a supporter of the program since they met when Ciarlante performed as Tigerman at an event for the Concerned Citizens of Whitesboro, Inc. (New Jersey), of which Graham is a board member.

Ciarlante is now in the process of creating coloring books with the Department of Human Services, which will hopefully be released in April. Among other topics, the books will address child abuse and whom to contact to get help.

Ciarlante has heard from children who have stopped fighting because of Tigerman, and even from one girl who had dropped out of high school and chose to go for her GED because Ciarlante did so after he dropped out of school. One ninth grader said that because of Tigerman, he had stopped selling drugs in fourth grade.

Ciarlante, who has been labeled “The Mr. Rogers of the 21st century,” has also created Tiger-cise, which teaches children about eating correctly and exercising. This is in addition to his work at Bailey’s Gym in Philadelphia, teaching yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates for adults.

For more information, visit www.tigerman.com or call 215-951-0330, ext. 128.