High school students stand up to bullying in Desert Hot Springs | mydesert.com | The Desert Sun

High school students stand up to bullying in Desert Hot Springs | mydesert.com | The Desert Sun
The Desert Hot Springs High School senior decided to share what she has learned with younger students in an effort to take a stand against bullying.
“My main goal is to make sure these kids know bullying isn’t OK, it’s not normal and that they can stop it,” Ongalibang said.
She and a group of friends and classmates from Desert Hot Springs High School spoke to students at Desert Springs Middle School on Thursday about their personal experiences from both sides – as the ones who were picked on and the ones doing the bullying.
Luis Martinez has been bullied so badly for being gay that he has attempted suicide, tried to run away from home and even gotten into drugs, he told a group of eighth graders.
But there was a time that he was on the other end – even bullying Ongalibang, who he now considers a close friend.
“The truth is, people who bully have something to hide,” said Martinez, 17.
At the end of the assembly, three eighth-graders students stood in front of their peers and emotionally apologized to those they had been mean to.
“I have picked on people because I have been picked on,” one student said. “I just want to let you know, it’s not going to happen any more.”