Meet The Scary Guy – a tattoo-faced American motivational speaker who mounted an attack on hatred and bigotry at a school.

Using his legal name which he adopted 15 years ago, The Scary Guy grabbed the attention of hundreds of youngsters at Oakbank School in Oakworth Road, Keighley .

The 58-year-old former tattoo artist, who was born in Minneapolis and delivers his message to adults and young people across the world, told students about the damage of verbal abuse and mocking – and challenged them to last a week without insulting anyone.

The Scary Guy said: “Learning how to be socially responsible for your words takes time, it’s not like flicking a light switch.

“I’m into helping people learn how to respond to people rather than react to them.

“It’s not good enough to just say ‘be good’ or ‘respect people’, or to stick those words on a wall. You have to physically show them how these things work.”

His unusual name – he was born Earl Kaufmann – came when a business rival drew attention to his facial tattoos and called him a “scary guy” in an advert.