The death of 14-year-old student Devan Bracci-Selvey last month outside Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School shook Hamilton to its core.

Two days later, the voices started to rise.

In Waterdown, a group of parents took to social media, forming a community to fight bullying. Since its very recent launch, more than 2,200 people have joined the resistance.

Voices Against Bullying Facebook group creator Julie Schaafsma remembers hearing the news of Bracci-Selvey’s death. “I thought it was something in the States,” she said of the Oct. 7 fatal stabbing.

As hours passed and more information came to light, Schaafsma realized the senseless violence happened a mere 20 minutes away. Keeping on top of the news and following social media posts, she soon sensed a growing theme.

“All these news people talking about how parents are reaching for help, how the students are reaching and calling for help, the teachers trying to help, the principals have their hands tied,” she said. “Something is missing, something is completely broken.”

After reading comments from parents, which seem to indicate that bullying played a role in Bracci-Selvey’s killing, it was time.

Schaafsma took to Facebook and formed the group, inviting friends and family to join in the hopes it would start a conversation.

Within a few hours, some 300 people had joined. Among the group members was Rev. Ryk Brown, who has faced his own struggles with bullying.

“I was severely bullied as a child to the point of near torture in some ways,” said the St. James United Church minister. “The teachers not only did nothing at all to help, some of them even encouraged it.”

The abuse and torment he suffered at the hands of bullies left him full of self-loathing. At 23, he attempted suicide.

“Only by divine intervention did that not happen and at that point I had a dramatic change in my life and decided I was going to commit my life to helping other people,” said Brown.

As a parent, Brown remembers seeing first-hand the anti-bullying initiatives taking place at his children’s Waterdown school. “I thought, ‘Oh, maybe the system has actually changed for the better,” he said. “Then, Devan happened.”

While Voices Against Bullying has only been active for about a month, the posts and conversations are plentiful and they all share a similar narrative. In many cases, parents have expressed working within the confines of the system to bring to light instances of bullying. The system, said Brown, appears to have failed them “again and again and again.”

Group members posted about pulling their children from school, changing school systems or even leaving the province.

“I wasn’t just a handful of stories, it was dozens and dozens of stories and I thought there is something systemically wrong here and I need to be a part of the solution,” said Brown.

From the Facebook group spawned an action team, which includes nine people with specific professional skills to help effect real change. The action team plans to work alongside school boards, educators, students and the community.

“It will take a village to solve this problem,” said Brown. “No one organization, no one body can solve bullying on its own, it’s going to take all of us together.”

The action team is putting on a Voices Against Bullying event slated for Nov. 16 at Flamborough Baptist Church, 41 5th Concession Rd. East. The event, which will run from 2 until 4 p.m., will feature guest speakers and provide guests an opportunity to connect with others around the topic of bullying.

The Facebook page remains active and continues to engage residents from near and far. It is a hub where members can seek support.