Students campaign against bullying | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer

Students campaign against bullying | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer
Four teens stood before their classmates on Friday at Lakeview Middle School, duct tape wrapped around their legs and across their abdomens.
"STOP BULLYING" was written in big block letters on the tape.
The tape and handmade posters adorned with anti-bullying, pro-unity slogans -- "Love your brother from another mother" -- were part of the group's plan to stop taunting at their school.
Theirs was one of several campaigns developed in English teacher Teri Bussler's classes, an assignment she developed after hearing a Monday speech in Battle Creek by Kevin Epling, co-director of Bully Police USA and father to a bullied suicide victim.
Bussler's students, broken into small groups, were asked to develop anti-bullying campaigns and plan how students could prevent teasing. On Friday, each group presented to their class. Later, they will present to other classes, Bussler said. Then their campaigns could be rolled out schoolwide.
Fourteen-year-old Kourtney Kipp said older kids should mentor younger kids, setting good examples in the hall. She attended the Monday speech and said she learned one thing:
"You shouldn't bully, period," she said.
Gavin Brandt, also 14, said his group focused on gossip, which he said was a big problem at his school. His group's slogan: "Hear it. Stop it. Solve it. End it." He also attended the Monday forum and said students have the most responsibility to end bullying.
"They see most of it," Brandt said. "They know what's going on and they have to stand up to it."
Megan Miller, 13, duct tape on her leg, told her classmates Friday, "You could save a life."