With a little help from my friends: US teen fights school bully with Facebook campaign

While Facebook, as a social network, serves as a powerful tool to connect people, there have also been instances where the platform has been exploited for bullying and harassment. A junior high school student, though, has now used the site to his advantage while confronting a school bully.

The student, Halsey Parkerson, used to Facebook to gather over 100 friends from his high school in order to counter a bully's taunts about not having friends. The rally was organised by Pakerson’s aunt when the teenager told her about the goings-on at the South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon.

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The rally was organised after she contacted an online car club that she belongs to and asked followers to show up for the lunchtime meet, according to a report from local TV news stations KATU. Over 50 cars showed up in response to the request. You can have a look at what the teen had to say about this below:

While talking about this, Parkerson told the source that, "It's just unbelievable. I now know whenever I get bullied I'll raise my head up and say, 'Sorry, I have too many friends to think I'm being bullied.'" The source said that the bully, when approached by the teen and his Facebook friends, immediately apologised. While talking about his experience, Parkerson said, "If you're being bullied, stand up and express yourself. This is one glorious day." 

It is important to note that Facebook has been working on its policy against bullying for some time now. In 2011, in response to the White House’s Conference for Bully Prevention, the social network began providing users with more tools to prevent online harassment. Users facing any such issue have the option of reporting their “bully” to Facebook, and they can also choose to include a trusted authority figure like a parent, relative or teacher as a contact in the incident report.