{"id":17645,"date":"2012-11-26T12:29:31","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T16:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=17645"},"modified":"2012-12-17T10:25:34","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T14:25:34","slug":"wright-state-freshman-friend-take-stand-against-bullying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2012\/11\/26\/wright-state-freshman-friend-take-stand-against-bullying\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State freshman, friend take stand against bullying"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Wright State student Tyler Gregory (left) and high school friend Scott Hannah are the anti-bullying advocates known as The NoBull Guys.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bullying has long plagued schools and has driven students to depression, tears and even suicide.<\/p>\n

While some see bullying as a rite of adolescence, others have begun speaking out against this traumatic form of harassment. Wright State student Tyler Gregory and high school friend Scott Hannah have achieved national fame<\/a> through their anti-bullying campaign.<\/p>\n

One year ago, Hannah and Gregory were both students at Southeastern High School in South Charleston. At the time, both were members of an organization called Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).<\/p>\n

\u201cFor that, we had to do a project and we weren\u2019t really sure what to do it over,\u201d said Gregory.<\/p>\n

This was the case until they heard the tragic story of Jamey Rodemeyer, an openly bisexual 14-year-old who took his own life after enduring years of bullying and harassment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hannah talks to kids at a 4H camp.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThat could have been anybody,\u201d said Gregory. \u201cIt could be the person we sit next to in class that also commits suicide because of the bullying epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

His death inspired Hannah and Gregory to do a video project on the dangers and consequences of bullying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided that a bully is somebody who will repeatedly hurt somebody\u2014physically or mentally\u2014with the intent to harm. The intention is what separates a bully from a jerk,\u201d said Gregory.<\/p>\n

According to the pair, this was the type of person they were initially targeting with their video project titled \u201cDon\u2019t Lose Hope, Stand Up to Bullying!\u201d Their video received unexpected but enthusiastic praise after being premiered at a school assembly, and they say its impact was tremendous.<\/p>\n

\u201cA former bully even came up to us and said she felt sick to her stomach,\u201d said Gregory.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gregory (left) and Hannah accepted an award at the No Bull Challenge banquet for their video that's inspired students across the country to stop or stand up to bullying.<\/p><\/div>\n

Motivated by this success, Hannah and Gregory<\/a> decided to expand their anti-bullying initiative. While they were still working on their video, the team caught wind of the Great American NO BULL Challenge, an amateur video competition to combat bullying and cyberbullying. Participants are required to write, film and edit their video submissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fit perfectly with our project,\u201d said Gregory.<\/p>\n

While Hannah and Gregory waited for the results of the competition, their local fame began to take off. Principals from regional schools had caught wind of the positive message behind their video and began contacting them to speak at assemblies.<\/p>\n

After they premiered their video for other high schools and gave a handful of speeches, the results of the competition had come in: even though Hannah and Gregory had no prior videography experience, their video ranked in the top 15 submissions in the country.<\/p>\n

Eight months after its initial creation, the impact of Hannah and Gregory\u2019s video continues to be felt. In a whirlwind of national success and fame, the newly deemed \u201cNO BULL Guys<\/a>\u201d have been touring the country, lecturing thousands of students and parents on the physical and emotional detriment bullying can cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur main focus has always been preventing suicide by alleviating bullying,\u201d said Gregory. \u201cA lot of suicides are the result of depression caused by bullying of some sort.\u201d<\/p>\n

While their message primarily targets bullied individuals, telling them \u201cto not give up hope\u201d or \u201cit gets better,\u201d everyone can learn something from the NO BULL Guys\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also aim to open the eyes of bullies. We want to show the possible outcomes of their hurtful actions. Their words can have consequences,\u201d said Hannah.<\/p>\n

The NO BULL Guys\u2019 momentum shows no signs of slowing\u2014their story recently appeared on The Today Show<\/a>,<\/em> and they will soon be featured on The Steve Harvey Show<\/em>. They have traveled the country numerous times to speak at large anti-bullying conferences and continue to speak at schools across the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gotten so much attention,\u201d said Hannah. \u201cA lot of people have told us that we\u2019ve saved their life through the advice we\u2019ve given them.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see the NO BULL Guys\u2019 video or to learn more about their efforts, visit their website at http:\/\/www.thenobullguys.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bullying has long plagued schools and has driven students to depression, tears and even suicide. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":17653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2025,725,715,719],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-service","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-special-categories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17645"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18000,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17645\/revisions\/18000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}