Middle Georgians Want to End Bullying

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Bullying is a problem sweeping the nation, and middle Georgians are doing something about it.

The Mentors Project has signed on to give kids a voice. They teamed up for an anti-bullying rally to show young people a better way.

Mentors project Executive Director, June O’Neal, wants kids to be safe this summer, and encourage friends while staying out of trouble.

“We’re having this at the beginning of the summer because a lot of children don’t feel safe to get outside and on the street in their neighborhood and we don’t want children to be confined to their houses or to their grandparents house or to their aunt’s house because they are afraid to get out in their neighborhood,” O’Neal said.

O’Neal’s worried since the pools in Macon haven’t opened for the beginning of the summer that kids are going to have a lot of down time with not much to do.

“My dad always said an idle mind is the devils workshop so we want children to be engaged in lifelong learning,” O’Neal said.

Tori Goolsby, a new mentor in the organization, wants to let kids know it’s ok to be themselves.

“I initially saw the documentary ‘Bully’ about year ago, its a powerful film everyone should watch it, I just felt so inspired and moved to do something about this situation that effects somebody in some kind of way.”

The Mentors Project’s goal is to reach out to 7th through 12th graders and put them on the right track to graduate.

“We want to have graduates walking across the stage with their diploma in hand, headed to college.”

O’Neal hopes this summer, volunteers can change a child’s life one day at a time.

“This summer with our gear up program we’ve got reading circle, we’ve got stem camp, we’ve got the outdoor classroom at the garden, so we’ve got lots of ways that people can call in to volunteer and help make the difference in the life of a child,” O’Neal said.