DENISON, TX-A Denison student is picking up the pace in the fight against bullying. Nicolette Schleisman caught up with her to see how she's raising awareness and why the cause is so close to her heart.
8th grader Serena Cuellar is taking some big steps to stop a growing problem. She and her friend co-created a group called "Walk Away From Bullying" just this week after one of her friends confided in her that they were being pressured to do something they didn't want to do.
"That's what got us thinking what if it stopped that people don't have to be pressured into doing stuff that they don't feel comfortable doing," she said.
Now Serena is hoping she can help more people realize how important it is to stop bullying.
"I've been bullied and I didn't like the way it felt. In the past I have been and I've seen other people get bullied also and even though other people aren't bullying me, it still makes me feel bad cause that could be me so I feel what they feel cause I know how it feels to get bullied," she said.
And to inspire others to walk away from bullying, this teenager is organizing a walk to raise awareness of the problem...
"Serena, when she fights for a cause, she goes all out you know. And she does things that grownups would be too scared to do," said Aurora Cuellar.
That's where Walk Texoma got involved, a new group that walks together to encourage Texomans to live a healthy lifestyle. Co-founder of Walk Texoma, Jessica Walker has a family member who suffers from bullying so when she heard Serena had developed this program, she was ready to lace up her walking shoes.
"I thought it was a fantastic cause and so we decided to join forces and see if we could raise awareness for what she was doing," she said.
Walker and the Cuellars will be moving ahead with their first walk of many against bullying on September 23 at Waterloo Lake and Serena said her goal is in sight.
"If only one person shows up, that means we're making a difference," she said.
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