HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - School bullying is not just confined to the hallways or the school yard, bullying has now gone digital, which means even at home some students can't escape the harassment.
St. James student Patrick Kohlmann knows first hand the struggles that come from being a victim of bullying.
"Being bullied you feel like you're all alone. Like you have nobody to go to. Truthfully, almost everybody out there has been bullied at one time in their life," explains Kohlmann.
Kohlmann decided being a victim would allow him to reach out to others who were suffering the same experience, and find strength in numbers. What he found was an overwhelming amount of support.
"At first when I moved here, I was a little afraid to come out and say I got bullied; I want to help people. But I started getting comfortable talking to the teachers and it just went together and just happened," Kohlmann says of his outreach to stop bullying.
Kohlmann's latest effort has been to rally the school for Blue Shirt Day, sending a message that the St. James student body stands together against bullying.
"It's just a way for kids to say, ‘bullying is not right. I'm against it. You shouldn't bully'," urges Kohlmann.
The St. James High School student body isn't the only backing Kohlmann has received, much of his support comes from home.
"I think a t-shirt day brings kids together. When you have kids all dressing the same and they're united as one, then they know that it's ok to say 'don't do that' or 'don't say that'," says Beth Kohlmann, Patrick's mom.
"It's going to send the message to the bullies that there are more people out there that don't want this to go on," Patrick Kohlmann ensures.
But Patrick's mom says it shouldn't fall to just the kids to show solidarity against harassment.
"I think it is definitely a community thing. It is definitely not up to just the children. It's up to us as parents, up to us as a whole community," says Beth Kohlmann.
As the national Blue Shirt Day comes to local schools, it's not just telling bullies that their actions are wrong, but it's reminding everyone not to wait until it hits home to take action, because then you may be too late.
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