Bullying has had its run in all education levels, but it finds its roots in elementary school, now administrators are taking action against this growing violence.

“People have made fun of my weight,” said Furneax Elementary fifth grader Victoria Summers.

“People have like, made fun of like my teeth and stuff,” said Furneax elementary fifth grader Ashlynn Kushmaul.

“People have made fun of my weight saying I was fat,” said Furneax Elementary fifth grader Meagan Kaisler.

Children at Furneaux Elementary in Carrollton are no strangers to bullying. Some get bullied. Some bully others. 

 “I wouldn’t say bullied… I’d say just messed around,” said Darius Ellis, a fifth grader at Furneax elementary who has bullied others in the past.    

It’s a problem that’s been around for years and transcends all age groups. 

SMU professor of Sociology Dr. Debra Branch has studied the social aspect of bullying before.

 “The three components of bullying is that it has to be an unwanted negative action toward another person, that can be either verbal or physical, it has to be chronic or over time, and it has to be about the imbalance of power, status, strength,” said Branch.

Tyler Bozarth has been bullied since he was in middle school.

“They used to make fun of me because I was fat,” he said.

In his first year of high school he gets similar treatment. Only this time, it’s physical.

“Some days they’ll knock my binder out of my hands and all my papers would fall out,” said Bozarth.

But it’s not just Bozarth who gets bullied.

“A fourth of the school gets picked on and there’s like 1,200 people at our school,” said Tyler.

Bozarth also mentioned that even after calls from parents and complaints from students, school administrators take no action.

“The principals don’t really do anything, because they don’t believe anybody…because everybody lies,” said Bozarth.  

It’s estimated that nearly 30% – or 5.7 million children are involved in bullying as either victims, perpetrators, or both.

Studies have found that 15 to 25% of students in the U.S. are bullied, while 15 to 20% bully others.

Furneaux is just one school that’s implementing a new program against bullying – it’s called ‘R’Time.

Students are randomly paired up for an activity and learn good manners, respect, and citizenship.

Principal of Furneax Elementary Jim Cunningham has great expectations for the program.

 “I’m not only hoping to see a decrease in behavior but an increase in student achievement,” he said.