Bullying is NOT a rite of passage.

“What would you say to the kids who are at the point of suicide?” a student stood up to ask in AED’s packed theater.

“First, that you are not alone,” answered Jamie Nabozny, an activist against bullying who was abused by his peers throughout middle and high school. “You have a right to be safe and it will get better. ”

Nearly 200 students, parents, activists, and educators gathered at AED Monday to take a stand in an event called Bullying is NOT a Rite of Passage.

“Bullying is a WRONG of passage,” said Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools with the Department of Education. Serving on a panel with Jennings for a forum discussion with the audience were Jamie Nabozny and his mother Carol Rosin, and Da’el Clapperton, a young videographer with with Wide Angle Youth Media.

The documentary about Nabozny’s story, Bullied: A Student, A School, And A Case that Made History, was screened prior to the question-and-answer session. The film has been used in 33,000 schools and is having a big impact. Schools can order their copy for free at http://www.tolerance.org/bullied.

To help youth activists build a network and have a stronger, unified voice to tackle bullying, young people from Wide Angle Youth Media and participants covered the event and are producing content available online, while real-time coverage was captured on Twitter with #nobully.

AED’s Brian Richmond, who first envisioned the event and led its development, told the audience in his remarks that they had the power to end bullying.

“Each person in this room can make a difference,” he said. “We need your voice, we need your energy.”

View photos from the event on AED’s Flickr page.