LANSING, Mich. — Kevin Epling loves his son Matt and so do many others who knew him.
“A lot of kids all knew Matt and gravitated towards Matt because of, he was just kind of fun to be around,” Epling said.
On his last day of eighth grade in 2002, Matt was assaulted by high school students.
“They restrained him. They smashed eggs on him. They poured syrup on him and basically told him his life in high school was going to be hell,” Epling said.
The bullying continued through out the summer. The night before the Eplings were planning on going to the police, 14-year-old Matt Epling took his own life.
“It turned our world upside down,” Epling said.
In 2003, Epling decided to speak out about what Matt went through. In 2011, the Matt Epling Safe School Law was passed requiring school districts to adopt anti-bullying policies.
Now state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D - East Lansing, is proposing two bills aimed at preventing adolescent suicide and strengthen anti-bullying laws.
Epling says they're needed.
“Some schools are doing wonderful things, some schools are not doing the base required things that are in the law,” he said.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the state, with 211 deaths in 2017.
“We’re never going to end suicide," Hertel said. "This will in many ways make sure less people fall victim to it.”
One bill calls for educating kids and young adults on suicide in schools.
“By talking to kids and by sharing signs of depression, sharing warning signs, we can help kids know that some of these thoughts are normal and so that it’s okay to seek help,” Hertel said.
It would also educate teachers on how to detect signs of depression in kids.
“If a child is seen in distress at school, that they don’t just send them to the office or have them talk to the nurse," Epling said. "They actually contact a family member of that student.”
The second bill aims to strengthen bullying laws already in place.
“Cyberbullying isn’t included strongly enough in the laws and it also doesn’t reflect that a lot of this bullying happens off school grounds,” Hertel said.
Epling said bullying prevention "is what we really need."
"It's not waiting until something happens and reacting to it," he said. "It is about setting up measures of prevention.”
Epling wants people to hear his story and call for a change in schools to end bullying.
"I don’t want you to cry for me," he said. "I want you to do something for me and with me.”
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