WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, ALNew Hope group takes action against bullying

Some are taking the bullying issue a step further by taking action.

A group in New Hope wants to create a "bully-free zone."

They feel if they can get through to a small group of kids, then maybe others kids will follow their lead by putting a stop to bullying all together.

A group of about a dozen students spent Monday evening running through exercises with a specialist to prevent bullying.

It's part of an after school program for the New Hope Community Center drawing in different age groups to promote its anti-bullying campaign.

The specialist asked the group if they knew what empathy meant. A student answered by saying, "It means you know how somebody else feels, it means you are in their shoes."

They're learning lessons of teamwork, leadership, and being able to recognize a bad situation if it happens.

"If we start them at a young age, teach them these bullying issues, teach them to not bully, teach them why you shouldn't be a bully and teach them to recognize bullies and how to handle bullies, then hopefully by the time they are in high school we won't have some of the issues we have to worry about today like the fighting," said project manager, Andrea Bridges.

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