District Ten News: Thomasville Anti-Bullying Event

Story support by JPM Gary Coker 

On October 20th and 21st, the Thomas County Sheriff's Office and Boston Police Department hosted the Second Annual Anti-Bullying Program at Thomas County Middle School in Thomasville. The Department of Juvenile Justice (with the assistance of many of its District Ten employees) was a proud participant in helping to educate local youth on the importance of stopping bullying in its tracks. 

As part of the two-day program, local students and citizens were able to experience first-hand the excitement of Southeastern Wrestling Association (SWA) matches live. The theme of the matches and the overall program was simple: students should stand up against bullying by telling a teacher, principal or law enforcement officer if they see someone being bullying firsthand.


SRO Lelia Spires, JPM Gary Coker, WWE Teddy Long, JPPS III Dawn Smith, WWE Ron Simmons 

Thomas County School Resource Officer Lelia Spires and Boston Police Chief Jimmy Peeples teamed up to provide the students with helpful information to make reporting bullying easier. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Famers Ron Simmons and Teddy Long were in attendance for the matches and program as well as NFL stars Ray Drew, Myron Guyton, Danny Copeland and Jessie Small. Juvenile Program Manager Gary Coker and Juvenile Probation/Parole Specialist Dawn Smith also showed their spirit and support of the anti-bullying message.


SWA Wrestling's Hardway Brothers standing up to bullies

Special thanks to Boston Police Chief Jimmy Peoples and SWA Wrestling (https://facebook.com/SWAWrestling) for the event entertainment.

To learn more on how you can stop bullying in your community, visit www.stopbullying.gov.