Musicians Opposed to Bullying Founder Takes Cause on the Road

Courtney Campbell

Turn on the television or pick up a newspaper and you'll likely find a story about bullying as part of the daily news cycle. Bullies have been around since the beginning of man, but the problem seems more vicious today, with many experts pointing to social media as a catalyst for ramping up bullying among kids and teens.

In 2010, music fan and blogger Courtney Campbell decided to take action after observing many musicians tweet condolences after anti-gay bullying fueled the suicide of a 14-year-old male from Pennsylvania.

"This really hit me hard," Campbell tells Noisecreep. "It wasn't something I had really thought about before, but to think that someone was bullied so bad that the only way they could come up with to 'survive' was to die really affected me. I already ran earplugsrequired.com and had contacts in the music industry and thought that we could do something about this. So I came up with Musicians Opposed to Bullying."

It wasn't long before Campbell was sending out emails to publicists in hopes of getting interviews with metal bands.

Watch Anthrax's Anti-Bullying Video

In the short time since Musicians Opposed to Bullying began, the cause has created over 160 anti-bullying messages. Many bands have lent their celebrity to the cause including Anthrax, Asking Alexandria, Black Veil Brides, The Word Alive, Blood on the Dance Floor, Trivium, D.R.U.G.S., My Darkest Days and Lacuna Coil.

Musicians Opposed to Bullying has clearly hit a nerve. Campbell and Musicians Opposed to Bullying are part of this summer's Warped Tour.

"We will be out on the tour from July 20th through the 30th," explains Campbell. "With a database of over 70 bands on the tour, I would love to get 50 messages done. I really believe that we can do that."

Campbell took Musicians Opposed to Bullying on the Warped Tour last summer as well and learned a few things, including that bands don't like scripts. Musicians like to speak from the heart and from experience, especially on personal matters such as bullying.

If you would like to lend a hand with Musicians Opposed to Bullying, Campbell urges you to get on your favorite social media platform and direct friends to favorite musician messages. Visit the organization's official website to view musician messages, read news and more.

Watch Andy from Black Veil Bride's Anti-Bullying Video