TOLEDO, Ohio — A plea from neighbors in west Toledo; they want to bring an end to bullying and school violence.
"We need to take a stand and we need to stop the violence," said Tina Scott, president of the West Toledo Neighborhood Association.
A group of west Toledo neighbors stood along Sylvania Avenue Tuesday with signs saying, “We believe in safer schools” and “Let's make kindness contagious” and more. Their hope is to create a change and make schools safer for all students.
From bullying to school threats, they say they are fed up.
"We're going to stand together on this no matter how many of us there are and we're going to show Toledo that we care," Zachary Hall said.
Hall organized Tuesday's rally because he knows the impacts of what he's fighting against. He dropped out of high school during his senior year because of bullying.
"Hit, beaten, just absolutely torn down to the last bit. It was atrocious and I couldn't deal with it anymore," Hall said.
He said when he heard of the threat made at his former school, Start High School, he was scared for his friends' safety.
Rodney Williams is a current senior and said the day was alarming.
"Just the announcements came on and the principal said that we were going into lockdown so no one really understood what was happening," Williams said.
While both TPS and TPD say no weapons or guns were found after their search, the fear is still very real for parents like Kelley Williams, a Start High School parent of two.
These threats cause serious concern and are why she joined Tuesday’s rally. She wants action.
"I'm not letting my guard down,” Williams said. “I'm not letting my kids go back to that school until something is implemented or somebody is caught."
Neighbors heard honks of support as drivers along Sylvania Avenue look to bring an end to the violence. Leaders with the West Toledo Neighborhood Association say they feel we need to come together to truly address the issue and make our community safer.
"It's got to stop,” Scott said. “Why are these children carrying guns and why do these children make these threats? What's going on at home? We don't know. So, what we need to do is we need to reach out to the community, find out what's going on. We need to stop this violence."
As they continue to fight for change, they hope city and school leaders will take notice and join them.