Ken-Ton district holds bullying forum

KENMORE, N.Y. (WIVB) - The Ken-Ton School District wants to open up the discussion about bullying and attempted to tackle the topic at a forum held Tuesday night.

Parents and students were given a chance to talk with local experts about the issue. Some parents who attended say they've seen bullying up close.

John Kelly said, "I've intervened on some online cyber bullying on a couple of popular social networks, and it gets a little ridiculous. And it's not just boys - it's boys and girls."

And while school districts can develop plans to prevent bullying, it's often the parents who need to take the lead role.

"Parents need to know what their children are doing online; they need to know who they're hanging out with and who they're picking on," argued Kelly.

Students in Ken-Ton held a pair of meetings in the past six months to come up with their own ways to deal with bullying.

Ken-West senior Taylor Rich said, "You just tell people what to do to avoid it and if you see it to report it to people if you don't want to personally jump in right away."

The issue grabbed national headlines in September, when Williamsville North freshman Jamey Rodemeyer took his life after years of bullying. News 4's Jacque Walker was there when Jamey's parents traveled to Los Angeles last weekend to meet with his idol, Lady Gaga.

The Trevor Project honored the pop star for her work against bullying. Lady Gaga paid tribute to Jamey when accepting the award, calling him a hero. Jamey's tragic story is generating more discussions about bullying like this one in the classroom.

"It's becoming more of an issue, and people are trying to put an end to it, and hopefully we can," said Ken-West senior Shawn Amann.

You can find resources for victims of bullying on News 4's Bully Project page, as well as past stories about bullying and Jamey Rodemeyer.