Dad on His 5th Grader Tearfully Approaching the School Board About Bullying: "This Took Courage"

In a room full of adults, Delanie Marcotte, a brave young girl from Plaistow, NH, approached her school board to ask them for their help in the fight against bullying. In a video taken by her father, Todd, Delanie can be seen tearfully delivering a prewritten speech, outlining what she's been through personally with her own bullies — and you'll tear up with her over the accounts.

"I'm here to talk about a problem that means a lot to me: bullying," Delanie opens her speech. "Bullying is a problem in our school. I am a victim of it. My parents have contacted the school about it, but it continues. It happened to me and my classmates. I have been asked by the mother of my bully during a school field trip why I tried to get her son in trouble. I have been threatened to get shot in the head by an AK-47 and buried in my backyard, and many other things. I ask you: what are you going to do to protect me and my classmates against bullying? I am here to stand up for every kid that gets bullied."

As the young girl finishes her plea and takes a deep breath, a woman on the board immediately responds, "We're very proud of you for coming." Her father also commented on Delanie's bravery, writing, "This took courage," on his video, which has gotten over 125,000 views, as well as tons of supportive and positive comments, since it was posted on June 9. Todd commented on the video after it began to go viral, explaining that the board did in fact privately address the issue after Delanie read her letter, even though it's not shown in the recording.

Things are getting handled and hopefully we change how things like this are handle in the future for any child that gets bullied. . . She has raised awareness to the issues. Hopefully she has helped her situation and many other kids throughout. She has seen people get bullied and she stands up against it. She doesn't understand how some people can be so mean to hurt someone else. . . The best part of all this is when my daughter heard I was going there to talk to them about the issue, she immediately asked if she could instead. She said that it was her that was bullied and she wanted to ask for their help for her and her classmates. Made us proud.

Her mother, Amy, added in a statement to WMUR 9 News: "Quite frankly, she is doing something that I would have never had the guts to do, being bullied myself in high school. We stand by her 100 percent and will do whatever it takes to protect our child."