CRYSTAL SPRINGS, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
Cameras rolled in Copiah County this weekend for a national documentary on the life altering affects of bullying.
Los Angeles filmmaker Elliot London sat down Sunday with students and adults who were victims of bullying at Chautauqua Park in Crystal Springs.
The film crew recorded stories from teenagers and adults who dealt with repeated taunts and harassment.
Among them were 16 year old Kassious Catchings a Hazlehurst High School student and 14 year old Jabreann Evans who attends Crystal Springs High School.
Cathings, an aspiring artist, said the constant torment affected him emotionally, causing him to feel unloved.
He told London that he went from being an A student to failing.
The teen was encouraged by London and others to focus on his drawings and art to undo the damage caused by the bully.
Evans said she suffered a medical condition in elementary school that caused her to be picked on, isolated and taunted.
She is the daughter of former Crystal Springs Mayor Arthur "Pokey" Evans and told the film crew that her parents position also brought negative attention and insults from other classmates.
While Evans has found confidence and said talking about her experiences with her family helped her to be able to stand up for herself.
Cathings is still learning to find his inner strength.
The Hazlehurst teenager said he had been bullied so long that he didn't know how to react and feels everything he does is wrong.
He is not along in his journey, his mother Cynthia Catchings said she is committed to working with school officials to get her son the help he needs.
London, who said he was also bullied, chose Crystal Springs after learning of the students' recent anti-bullying campaigns.
He hopes this documentary will change the perception of bullying by making it a more serious national topic while empowering young victims.
"These young kids started an anti-bullying constitution and wanted to talk about it and dialogue and I just think about wow. I mean when you're so young why aren't you riding around in the car listening to Taylor Swift? No you're actually trying to be an advocate and do some change and open up dialogue because this is very important," said London.
Crystal Springs is one of 10 cities the film crew will visit.
The documentary will be featured on the Internet on more than 400 national and international blogs.
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