Kinston student receives anti-bullying award

Jeb Crosby, a rising fifth grader at Kinston School, was named an Anti-Bullying Hero at Auburn University's Fifth National Anti-Bullying Summit in Peachtree, Ga., on June 18-19.

According to a statement from the summit, Crosby "noticed one of his classmates with Down syndrome was being ignored and bullied by other students. He refused to be a bystander and defended her. His awareness that special needs students need friendship and respect has set an example of kindness in his school."

Tami Crosby, Jeb's mother, said that he has always been protective of his classmates, and he has been taught to stand up against bullies.

"He just has a heart and personality for that," Tami Crosby said. "What I have found is, all it takes is for someone to stand up for someone else with disabilities. They (the bully) will back down usually.

"If someone is willing to stand up, it makes a difference."

She said that her son receiving the award showed him that others recognized when a person does a good deed.

"I think it sends the message to him that people do recognize when you do the right thing," Tami Crosby said. "You don't do it for the recognition, but people will still see it when you do good things."

Jeb Crosby and his parents attended seminars about bullying during the summit.

"It was an awesome experience for all of us," Tami Crosby said. "Jeb met one of the other hero award winners, Trish Prabhu. She is 15, and she has created this software that works with social media."

The software, called ReThink, reads social media posts and determines if it is offensive. It then gives the user an opportunity to rethink his or her decision to post something potentially harmful or offensive.

"He was simply awed by her," Tami Crosby said. "He was really inspired. I think it helped that he was able to meet people close enough in age that he thought he could do something really important like that."

According to Tami Crosby, every school in the system has anti-bullying activities, and the students are taught the difference between tattling and telling.

"Every school is going to have instances (of bullying), but our counselors and administrators are trained to act both proactively and reactively to those situations," Tami Crosby said. "Our kids here are pretty good about seeing something and telling a teacher."

For Jeb Crosby, Tami Crosby said that he was just taught to respect everyone.

"We've always taught him to treat people with respect. People will usually respect you in return."