ALEDO, Illinois - For Mallory, Mikayla and Alexsha bullying hits close to home. They each have experienced bullying in some way but their own bullying experiences aren't the reason they came up with Valerie's Law.
"A classmate of mine, a really sweet girl, was bullied a lot. So she felt the need to take her own life to relieve herself of being bullied and all the pain that she went through," said Alexsha Spangler. Spangler and the rest of the A-B-C group helped raise money for funeral expenses for Valerie's family.
Valerie's memory lives on in the group and their passion to change bullying in schools.
"We brought up the idea of bringing in some new policies because the policy that they have is not enforced. They call it zero tolerance but because it's not enforced the most bullies get is a slap on the wrist," said Mallory Mazzocco.
"We have a three strike policy before we think law enforcement should get involved and if they pass those three strikes they should be charged with a misdemeanor," said Mikayla Thomas. The group believes this will give the bully a chance to change their behavior.
The group was invited to Congresswoman Cheri Bustos office a few weeks ago. She advised them to reach out to all state representatives, and so they did.
"It was very exciting we felt like we were now Valarie's voice since she no longer has one and we're finally able to speak up like she never was," said Thomas.
They know bullying is a nationwide problem and say they won't stop until it is fixed.
