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NEGAUNEE -- According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Center, almost 30 percent of youth in the U.S. are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both.

A new program at Negaunee's Lakeview Elementary hopes to lower that number locally through a "Bully Awareness" program.

When you are just six or seven years old, a "bully" seems to fit just one mold, and dealing with one is never fun.

"It doesn't feel that good because they're being mean, and you're getting bossed around," says Negaunee first grader Tessa Standeford.

But bullying is complicated, and some young kids may not even realize what they are doing is hurtful.  The Bully Awareness Program at Negaunee's Lakeview Elementary aims to fix that.

"Elementary level, or lower elementary level, a lot of times in their head, bullying is just hitting or punching," says Negaunee Assistant Principal Kelli Boase.  "But today, hopefully we enlighten them a little bit that some of their actions may be bullying that they don't even realize."

"I didn't know that if you roll your eyes, you're being a bully," says first grader Hunter Mikkola.

Assistant Principal Boase and School Guidance Counselor Tori Sager attended national bullying conferences to pull the program together.

Although Lakeview is the second biggest elementary school in the U.P., they say the problems they face here are different than schools in parts of Lower Michigan.

"Very different issues than say, the bigger cities," Boase said.  "We don't deal with a lot of gang violence, we don't have a big drug problem here at Lakeview, which is great.  But we do still have the cliques that get formed and still have the social bullying that kids may not even realize they're doing."

To tackle the issue, they hosted four weekly sessions, specific to each separate grade, packed with both in and out of class learning.  The special program wraps up Monday, but anti-bullying lessons will continue at the school daily.