MILWAUKEE — Bullying continues to be a problem across the country and in Wisconsin. That is why the nonprofit, Generations Against Bullying (GAB) was started in Greendale, Wis.

It is a program that provides anti-bullying solutions for schools across the country. GAB offers a 12-month Upstander Peer Ambassador Program for high, middle and elementary schools that helps enhance any anti-bully program that is in place at a school. 

“I started being bullied at 8-years-old and a couple of kids who were bigger and older stopped the bullying for me and they became my heroes,” Director of Generations Against Bullying Michael Turner said. “Not knowing they were recruiting me at the time and that’s what turned into all the gangs, drugs and all the bad things I never would had thought would have happened.”

Turner is now using his personal story and transformation to teach students about ways to prevent bullying.

“Greendale High School in Wisconsin is the birthplace of the GAB program and I am just glad to be walking through the hallways and say this is where it all started at. We not only use our in school programs but we also do school movie nights. We try to do everything that we can do that encompasses family and get these kids together so they know that they have way more in common than they don’t have in common,” said Turner. 

Several Wisconsin students are part of the GAB program and are now a role model for other kids.

“I was bullied starting in the first grade. Be confident in yourself, that is something that I wish I could have told myself a couple years ago as well as love yourself and always know that there are people there for you,” said 12-year-old Leia Rios, the youngest Board Member on GAB.

Rios credits the GAB program for giving her confidence and now even participates in beauty pageants. Currently, she holds the title of Miss USA National Miss Northern States PreTeen 2022. She also volunteers with the Girl Scouts and teaches them about anti-bullying solutions. 

If you’d like to read more about the GAB program, click here.