SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) - One in every four children who says they've been bullied in school.
Were you one of them? Is your child?
It's a trend Sioux City Schools are trying stop.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a bully?
"Saying something that you do deliberately to break someone's spirit," said Jessica Garaway, West High School Senior.
The one being bullied?
"People say things and it just kind of hits you wrong," said Tucker Carrell, West High School Sophomore.
Or the innocent bystander?
"He just didn't fit in with all of the other little boys, and there was one who used to pick on him a lot more," said Nicole Engle, West High School Senior.
Bullying is happening in hallways, classrooms and playgrounds across the country.
But, students at Sioux City Schools are trying to fight back.
For four years, West High School's freshman mentoring program has matched upper classmen with freshman to teach them the in's and out's of high school.
Bullying is one of those important topics.
"It's a chance to have that discussion and really get them thinking about these issues," said Garraway.
Its programs like that, that attracted two filmmakers, Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen to Sioux City. They say there's not one person in the country who hasn't been affected by bullying. To shed light on the issue, they're creating a documentary called 'The Bully Project'
"Part of it was a response to this overwhelming cycle of seeing story after story around the country of these really awful incidents of bullying," said Lee Hirsch, Filmmaker.
They say schools in Sioux City are no exception. But, Hirsch and Lowen says it's what the district is doing now to combat the issue that attracted them here in the first place, things like the Freshman Mentoring Program.
"Here you have a district that's actually saying ok, we're not going to sweep this under the rug," said Hirsch.
Working on 'The Bully Project' for more than a year, it's a new angle the pair hadn't seen before coming to Sioux City. But, through their documentary, they hope this angle of the story sends a message.
"Problems of bullying and violence among kids and teens is not insurmountable," said Cynthia Lowen, Filmmaker.
And they hope it'll open doors for other districts to discuss the topic.
"There's an opportunity to reach out and kind of I think move a lot of hearts and minds on this issue," said Hirsch.
"When schools really come together to say - we don't accept violence... we don't accept bullying - that you can really make a difference for the students in the schools," said Lowen.
While the Freshman Mentoring Program at West High School has only been active for four years... students say they're beginning to see real strides made.
"I think it's really made people think about what bullying is," said Danika Nash, West High School Senior.
"I have seen some changes and less people are doing bullying," said Jeremy Musgrove, West High School Junior.
"You can tell when violence has started up, so many people step in and put a stop to it right away," said Nate Bauer, West High School Senior.
The Sioux City School district also has other bullying programs like Second Step.
The program teaches students how to deal with certain social situations, bullying included.
Second step is embedded into every teacher's curriculum.
Online Reporter: Allissa Hopkins
