‘Bullying is a tremendous issue’
Students speak out
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Freezing temperatures didn't keep Altoona Area parents, students and a few school employees from rallying against bullying Monday outside of the Altoona Area High School.
The rally was coordinated by Brett Cornelius, who created the Parents Raising Anti-Bullying Awareness in Altoona, PA, Facebook page.
In the crowd of 40 people were the father and stepmother of Wyatt Lansberry, a 12-year-old Altoona Area seventh-grader, who took his own life on May 18 after experiencing a "particularly brutal day of bullying" at Altoona Area Junior High School, according to a federal lawsuit filed in January by his father, Marc.
"I think we need to get awareness out there. Bullying is a tremendous issue here and nationwide," said Danielle Lansberry, Wyatt's stepmother.
"This was Wyatt's last wish. We are trying to make it come true," she said.
Altoona Area eighth-grader Bryson Bevan, 14, knew Wyatt. He also gets bullied at school, said his mother, Wendy Malovich.
"He (Bryson) used to love school up until he got to seventh-grade," Malovich said. "It feels like every time you send your kid to school, you send your kid to a war zone."
Kyra Grace, 18, said she has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, so she talks a lot.
"They pick on me and say things behind my back but are nice to my face. I go home crying. My mom understands what I have, but not most people. They say, 'She's so annoying and obnoxious. It's tough going through life being bullied by people who misjudge and misunderstand me."
Jeremiah Benz, 17, said he attended the rally to make a change.
"Everyone here has had a family member who has been through it or they themselves have experienced it," he said.
Cornelius and another Altoona Area parent, Brad Swander, aligned 30 corporate sponsors for a one-day summer camp June 30 at Prospect Pool, run by the Central Blair Recreation Commission. The name for the event is Camp Wyatt.
Their Facebook page has gained 3,200 members since it was established in early February.
Mirror Staff Writer Russ O'Reilly is at 946-7435.