The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office has been working with various East Carolina University athletic teams in order to promote an anti-bullying campaign.
The campaign started in November 2014 when the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office received two reports of possible bullying incidents that resulted in two teenagers committing suicide in Pitt County.
“Sheriff Elks decided that he needed to do something and that we weren’t doing enough to really combat the problem and be more proactive,” said Christy Wallace, public information officer for the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office.
After some brainstorming, it was decided that the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office was going to reach out to students with the help of some East Carolina University athletes and coaches.
“We decided the best way to get students involved is to let the people they see as potential heroes to speak out against the same thing and then they would be more likely to come out and speak against it as well,” said Wallace.
The campaign was kicked off with the filming of a Public Service Announcement featuring the East Carolina University football team along with members of the coaching staff. The PSA debuted on all major local networks and a few local eastern North Carolina stations on Dec. 4, 2014.
